This report describes some aspects of the drinking behavior of a nationally representative cohort of men and women in the United States in 1988. The data are drawn from the 1988 round of the NLSY, which include interviews with 10,466 men and women who were 23 to 30 years of age. The descriptive analyses showed that males drank both more frequently and in heavier quantities than females. Blacks drank less heavily and less often than whites and Hispanics. Socioeconomic status is associated with less abstaining, but more modest drinking patterns. Men and women who were married and those who were parents were less likely to drink, in terms of both frequency and quantity. Twenty percent of the sample reported experiencing at least one alcohol-related problem in the past year. About 15 percent of the sample experienced alcohol-related aggression problems, and the same proportion experienced problems involving loss of control over alcohol intake. Alcohol-related problems in the workplace were rare, with only 3.5 percent reporting any of those problems. A substantial proportion of the men and women had relatives whom they defined as having been alcoholics or problem drinkers - about 50 percent. Males with alcoholic relatives were slightly more likely to either abstain or drink more heavily. As the number of reported alcoholic relatives increases, so does the percentage of respondents having experienced alcohol-related problems in the past year, and this relationship pertains to both males and females. Further analyses should clarify these descriptive relationships by performing multivariate analyses, including a full range of factors associated with drinking.

Bibliography Citation

Abma, Joyce C. "Alcohol Use Among Young Adults in 1988: Results from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1991.

Data on a cohort of young mothers from the NLSY were examined for use of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana during pregnancies leading to first births. A substantial proportion of women (45 percent) were found to have used at least one of these substances. White women were more likely to use a substance during pregnancy than were Hispanic or black women; women with a prospective father present in the household were less likely than other women to use a substance. Compared with well-educated and older women, less-educated and younger women were more likely to smoke cigarettes or marijuana during pregnancy, but were less likely to drink alcohol. Only about 13 percent of women used more than one substance. Nineteen percent of the women received no prenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancy. Less-educated and younger women were least likely to receive early prenatal care. Multivariate analysis found no association between neglect of prenatal care and substance use. Rather, the analysis revealed that the two behaviors shared likely antecedents, such as whether the prospective father was in the home prior to the pregnancy.

Bibliography Citation

Abma, Joyce C. and Frank L. Mott. "Substance Use and Prenatal Care During Pregnancy Among Younger Mothers: Linkages and Antecedents." Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus OH, February 1991.

This study focuses upon the process of labor market entry of male youth in the context of the dual labor market theory. Essentially, the dual market theory contends that large numbers of workers are involuntarily confined to substandard jobs in a "secondary" labor market which is separated from the mainstream, or "primary" sector, by impenetrable boundaries imposed by institutionalized discrimination. Briefly, the study finds a substantial amount of upward mobility from time of first job to 1968--a period ranging from 2 to 10 years. Nonetheless, entry into and confinement within the secondary sector cannot be consistently explained solely in terms of deficiencies in aggregate demand, human capital, or motivation. Moreover, the evidence also suggests the existence of race and sectoral differences in the process of wage determination.

The fourth wave of data from the NLSY is analyzed. The nature and consequences of high school employment,the effectiveness of job search and job finding methods among young people, the relationship of race to employment and educational attainment, the long-term effects of participation in government-sponsored employment and training programs, and the determinants and consequences of dropping out of high school in an overeducated society are investigated. A longitudinal study of reservation wages, duration of job search and subsequent wages is presented, based on an empirical econometric analysis.

D'Amico & Baker - Chapter One: The Nature and Consequences of High School Employment. Kim - Chapter Two: A Longitudinal Study of Reservation Wages, Duration of Job Search, and Subsequent Wages: An Empirical Econometric Analysis. Wielgosz & Carpenter - Chapter Three: The Effectiveness of Job Search and Job Finding Methods of Young Americans. Crowley - Chapter Four: Long Term Outcomes of Government-Subsidized Employment and Training Programs. Crowley - Chapter Five: Long Term Outcomes of Goverment-Subsidized Employment and Training Programs. Morgan - Chaper Six: The High School Dropout in an Overeducatedc Society.

This report describes the work experience of the nationally-representative sample of 12,000 Americans who were age 14-21 when first interviewed in 1979 and who have been surveyed annually since then. Willke -- Chapter One evaluates outcomes for post-school participants in government employment and training programs with special attention given to selectivity bias. D'Amico & Baker -- Chapter Two describes early labor market differentiation among terminal high school graduates. Morgan -- Chapter Three analyzes business cycle effects on college enrollment behavior. Crowley -- Chapter Four provides a descriptive analysis of welfare patterns among young mothers. Falaris & Peters -- Chapter Five discusses the effect of demographic factors on schooling and entry wages.

Measuring Time Use: A Comparison of Alternate Research Strategies
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1983
Cohort(s):
NLSY79
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Research Methodology; Time Use

Alternate methods of measuring time use were assessed using data from the 1980 NLSY pretest, administered to 223 youth ages 15 to 22 in four U.S. cities. The time diary, which elicited detailed time use information from the day preceding the interview date, was compared with a series of stylized questions asking for estimates of time spent on selected activities in the last seven days. Well-suited to gathering information on a comprehensive range of time use patterns, the diary's sensitivity to day to day fluctuations and to sporadic events makes it less desirable as an adjunct to the investigation of specific activities at the individual level. The 7-day retrospective appears to better represent usual time allocation, particularly activities that occur regularly or during infrequent blocks of time during the day. The diary generates reliable aggregate time use estimates while the 7-day approach offers a viable alternative for micro-level research.

This handbook is a revised edition of NLSY Child Handbook 1989. It is designed to assist users of the 1986 Merged Child-Mother Data File, briefly describes both the longitudinal data on mothers and children collected since 1979 and discusses in greater detail the 1986 cross-sectional child assessment data.

This handbook, designed to assist users of the 1986 Merged Child-Mother Data File, briefly describes both the longitudinal data on mothers and children collected since 1979 and discusses in greater detail the 1986 cross-sectional child assessment data. It places the NLSY child data collection efforts in the context of the NLSY surveys and explains the link between data found on the child tape and variables found either in the main cohort data set or in other special NLSY tapes. The child handbook describes each of the child assessments administered during the 1986 survey round and the criteria used in their selection. It outlines field procedures used in administering the assessments, interviewer training required, and types of field conditions encountered. Information is included on how the assessments were scored and what types of summary scores appear on the merged tape. Descriptive materials about the assessments are discussed including tabular information relating the distribution of various outcome scores to a number of child and maternal characteristics, correlations between the various assessments, selected reliability coefficients, and a discussion of potential biases due to attrition. Data users are informed of certain nuances of the various assessments and limitations of these data and provided with specific instructions on how to properly access and use the child variables. Of particular importance to users is a section discussing the nature of the mother and child samples. A number of descriptive tables, details on the child data tapes, and related documentation are provided.

This study examines the relationship between locus of control and subsequent unemployment experience for a national probability sample of teenagers. Using multiple regression analysis to control for a variety of individual differences, the influence of "internal-external" attitudes held as a teenager on subsequent unemployment experience in the adult labor market is determined. The results support the notion that "external" teenagers can be expected to experience longer periods of unemployment in the future relative to "internals". In addition, though not entirely conclusive, there is evidence that I-E is an important determinant of black-white unemployment differentials.

This is the final report on the 1980 data from the NLSY derived from interviews with 12,141 young people, age 15- 23. Topics examined include: SANTOS -- Chapter 1, the variables affecting the employment prospects of unemployed youth; POLLARD -- Chapter 2, the changes in employment patterns of black and white young men in the decade of the 1970s; KIM -- Chapter 3, the changing patterns in wage and reservation wage differentials for black and white young men during the 1970s; BORUS & CARPENTER -- Chapter 4, the variables affecting the decision to drop out of school without finishing the 12th grade, the decision to return to school after having dropped out, and the decision to go directly to college after completing the 12th grade; RUMBERGER & DAYMONT -- Chapter 5, the effects of high school curriculum on labor market success; and CROWLEY -- Chapter 6, the relationship between delinquency and employment status.

This report is based on data from the 1979, 1980 and 1981 interviews of the NLSY. Four analytical chapters comprise the volume: HILLS & CROWLEY -- Chapter 1, characteristics that increase job satisfaction among youth are discussed and compared with those of slightly older men and women. CROWLEY -- Chapter 2, the relationship between crime and employment is examined, using a model that combines economic and sociological approaches. D'AMICO -- Chapter 3, examines the effects of two determinants of educational aspirations and delinquent behavior: high school students' participation in their school's informal social system and their expression of positive feelings toward their schools. MORGAN -- Chapter 4, compares the quality of education in public versus private schools.

The report is the first on a nationally representative sample of young people who were ages 14 to 21 on December 31, 1978. It is a descriptive presentation of the status of youth in the spring of 1979--their position and problems in the labor market; their reactions to school and the factors influencing their schooling decisions; their training, both the government sponsored and other vocational training which they receive; their health status; and their attitudes, both towards their present situations and the future. Eleven additional chapters define topics on labor force participation and employment status of the youth for the week in which they were interviewed in 1979; examine the employment conditions for those youth who were employed at the time of the survey; present the work experience of the youth for the preceding year, 1978, and analyze the determinants of weeks worked and unemployed during the year; discuss job search motives and techniques of youth and their willingness to accept specific jobs at various wages; study the attitudes of young people toward high school, its programs, and their reasons for not completing school or for attending college; examines participants in government sponsored training programs, the types of services received, and their attitudes toward these programs; deal with the post-high school training provided outside of regular schools, government programs, and the military; study the health status of young people at the time they were interviewed; detail the extend of age, race, sex discrimination felt by young people as well as their perception of the difficulties they have in the labor market; examine the educational, occupational, and fertility aspirations of the young people and their desire for further training; and present a summary of the major findings.

This cross-tabular report contains preliminary studies of the second wave of data from the NLSY. BORUS -- Chapter 1 is an introduction and overview of the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the youth who were 15-23 years old. SANTOS -- Chapter 2 discusses the employment and unemployment status of the youth population at the time of the interview. Information is presented on the labor force participation and unemployment rates of segments of the population, the job search activities of the unemployed, and the nature of the employment of those who are working. POLLARD -- Chapter 3 examines the employment history of the young people during the preceding year including the number of weeks worked and job turnover. Participation in government employment and training programs is the subject of CROWLEY -- Chapter 4 presents the characteristics of participants in these programs, the types of services they receive, and their reaction to the programs. BORUS -- Chapter 5 considers the education and schooling of the youth; particular attention is paid to the decisions to drop out of high school, to return to high school, to graduate from high school, and to go on to college. CROWLEY -- Chapter Six analyzes delinquent behavior by this age group and their contacts with law enforcement agencies. The analysis describes those who engage in various types of delinquent behavior and the frequency of such behavior.

Counting Youth: A Comparison of Youth Labor Force Statistics in the Current Population Survey and the National Longitudinal Surveys
Report, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1978
Cohort(s):
Young Men, Young Women
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Current Population Survey (CPS) / CPS-Fertility Supplement; Part-Time Work; Research Methodology; Unemployment; Unemployment, Youth

This report focuses on the accuracy of employment- related measures in the (CPS) Current Population Survey by comparing those estimates with NLS estimates. The results indicate that NLS data report: (1) considerably higher labor force participation among young men and women, especially those who attend school; (2) significantly higher unemployment rates for young women and approximately the same rates for young men; (3) more unemployed seeking part-time employment; (4) higher levels of unemployment; and (5) youth who are employed were more likely to work either part time or overtime depending on their age.

Bibliography Citation

Borus, Michael E., Frank L. Mott and Gilbert Nestel. "Counting Youth: A Comparison of Youth Labor Force Statistics in the Current Population Survey and the National Longitudinal Surveys." Report, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1978.

This paper examines the determinants of self-reported work disability in samples of older men and women stratified by race. Strong support is found for the hypothesis that economic factors as well as poor health influence the probability individuals report health limits in the amount or kind of work they do. In particular, lower expected wage rates significantly raise the probability of reporting work disablement, controlling for health status and health-related job requirements. The implications of these findings on estimating health and wage effects in labor supply studies are examined. Policy implications are also discussed.

The interrelationship between health status and work activity is analyzed in order to cast further light on three controversies: (1) whether the average health levels of older men have deteriorated, improved or remained roughly constant over the past 25 years, and the extent to which below-average health leads to involuntary labor force withdrawals; (2) whether the health of older men who retire deteriorates as a result of retirement; (3) whether recent improvements in mortality have selectively favored individuals at higher risk of disablement, and thus contributed to pre- and post-retirement health trends. The results suggest that health levels of older men have deteriorated over the past two decades, partly as a consequence of improvements in life expectancy. These health trends have contributed to the observed decline in labor force participation of this population subgroup. Little evidence is found, however, for the claim that retirement harms health status.

This study tests whether there is an underlying interaction between policy inducements and health-related retirement behavior. Inclusion of mortality in the model ensures that selectivity biases are minimized and permits direct testing of several key inferences made in previous studies. Findings are: (1) Work-limiting health conditions are neither permanent nor influenced exclusively by impaired physical or psychological functioning so studies using these measures as proxies for the capacity to engage in market work are likely to overstate involuntary withdrawals from the labor force. (2) Evidence of interaction effects between policy-related and health-related outcomes provides fundamental support for the hypothesis that inducements arising from social insurance and income transfer programs influence labor market behavior. (3) This analysis provides weak evidence that life expectancy biases the results of early retirement studies that use mortality and health proxy and pension wealth as indication of policy inducements.

Bibliography Citation

Chirikos, Thomas N. and Gilbert Nestel. "Health-Pension Interaction in the Analysis of Early Retirement Trends." Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, 1984.

This report provides simple cross-tabular results from the administration of a short series of alcohol use questions on the 1982 NLSY. The primary focus is on the variations in reported alcohol consumption by race, sex, and age. Several clear patterns emerge even from the simple cross-tabular analysis presented here. Young men are more likely to drink than are young women, and young men are much more likely to drink heavily. White males consume the most alcohol virtually any way it is measured. Hispanics report a pattern of drinking similar to that of whites, although at a slightly lower level. Black males, on the other hand, tend to report lower levels of drinking, both in terms of number of drinking occasions and in quantity of liquor consumed. While black males drink substantially more than do any of the ethnic categories among females, their pattern of responses is more similar to the female pattern than to the pattern for white or Hispanic males. That is, black males tend not to report drinking great quantities of alcohol at one session, and are less likely than other men to frequent bars.

Bibliography Citation

Crowley, Joan E. "Demographics of Alcohol Use Among Respondents of the 1982 National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience of Youth Panel." Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, 1983.

Demographics of Alcohol Use Among Young Americans: Results from the 1983 National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience of Youth
Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, 1985
Cohort(s):
NLSY79
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Alcohol Use; Family Background; Religious Influences

This research reports on the drinking patterns of the general population as they are leaving adolescence and entering adulthood. Drinking patterns in 1982 were described in a previous report. This report focuses on three issues: an assessment of the consistency of responses between 1982 and 1983, a description of the demographics of drinking patterns using indices developed from the 1983 data, and a description of the occupational patterns of drinking among young people. The trends in the data suggest that drinking to the point of drunkenness may peak at about age 19 or 20. Youth with more education, whose parents have at least some college, who are not poor, who are white and who come from mainstream churches tend to drink twice a week or more, but generally in moderation. Youth with the characteristics associated with lower levels of income and status have much higher proportions of non-drinkers and overall drink less frequently than other youth, but those who drink tend to drink larger quantities per drinking day. Occupation and industry are seen to have little effect on drinking.

Bibliography Citation

Crowley, Joan E. "Demographics of Alcohol Use Among Young Americans: Results from the 1983 National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience of Youth." Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, 1985.

The NLS Mature Men cohort provided the opportunity to look at the effects of retirement on well-being longitudinally in a sample of men aged 54 to 69 in 1976. Volunteer retirees were found to consider themselves better off than did other retirees or comparable men still working.

Previous reports in this series have focused on descriptions of alcohol use patterns among NLSY. This report extends the descriptive material to the 1984 data, and extends those results with multivariate analyses of alcohol use patterns as they are related to indicators of socioeconomic status. In 1984, the questions on alcohol use were supplemented for the first time with questions on problems resulting from alcohol use. A major portion of this report details the patterns of reported problems within the young adult population. The author concludes that alcohol use is not well accounted for by broad socioeconomic categories. Alcohol related problems are not simply a function of alcohol consumption since patterns in relationships between status variables and drinking patterns were not affected by the inclusion of drinking behavior in the models.

Bibliography Citation

Crowley, Joan E. "Status Variations in Alcohol Use Among Young Adults: Results from the 1984 National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth." Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, 1985.

While dual economy theory has been shown to enhance our understanding of the process of stratification in America, a satisfactory operationalization of the fundamental concept underlying this theory--that of a bifurcated industrial structure--has yet to be devised. This paper attempts to fill this void by factor analyzing production and product market characteristics of industries. The resultant factor structure is inspected for evidence of dualism and factor scores are used to assign industries to sectors.

Career Paths and Career Origins: The Effect of First Job Industry on the Attainments of Mature Men
Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, 1981
Cohort(s):
Older Men
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Career Patterns; Industrial Classification; Occupations

The fundamental contention of this paper is that the industrial environment encompassing a worker's career origin has pervasive and irrevocable effects on his subsequent career development. This is so even for workers who transfer to a new industrial setting. The linkages that exist between industries, internal labor markets, and career paths are explored. Empirically, it is demonstrated that industry of first job is a significant and strong predictor of earnings and occupational SEI for workers late in their careers. This finding holds despite controls for a number of relevant human capital and other such variables as current job industry, and with various alternate universe restrictions. The final sections of this paper explore the ways in which industries impact on careers. These processes are complex and not well specified by current models of industrial organization. In conclusion, it is argued that these results support the relevance of institutional environments in shaping career development, and that industry is an appropriate level of aggregation at which these processes can be studied.

Bibliography Citation

D'Amico, Ronald. "Career Paths and Career Origins: The Effect of First Job Industry on the Attainments of Mature Men." Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, 1981.

Does Working in HIgh School Impair Academic Progress?
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, February 1984
Cohort(s):
NLSY79
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Dropouts; Educational Attainment; High School Completion/Graduates; High School Employment; Part-Time Work

This paper documents the extent of high school employment and evaluates its relationship to study time, free time spent at school, class rank, knowledge of occupational tasks and the probability of dropping out before completing high school.

Bibliography Citation

D'Amico, Ronald. "Does Working in HIgh School Impair Academic Progress?" Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, February 1984.

In recent years, sociologists have displayed increasing attention to investigating the ways in which institutional or organizational features of the labor market constrain workers' mobility patterns throughout the economy. Notable within this corpus of research by virtue of their glaring omission are analyses of the role of trade unions. This paper attempts to fill this gap by investigating union effects on patterns of job mobility. It finds that union effects vary by type of union and by type of job change, with industrial unions promoting the incidence of intra-firm occupation changes and craft unions decreasing the incidence of inter-occupation moves. The author concludes that unions operate to lend coherence and stability to careers by binding their members more closely to organizational and occupational structures.

This paper endeavors to clarify some unexplored issues evolving from dual economy theory. In particular, we model the process by which individuals get allocated to sectors, elucidate the mechanisms by which capital sector affects earnings, and note the overlap between occupational and industrial dualism.

The final section of this paper attempts to evaluate dualism in a somewhat broader sense. In particular, we explore the extent to which capital sectors exhaust the relevance of industrial structure for earnings. We find that substantial inter-industry variation in wages exists net of sector.

Bibliography Citation

D'Amico, Ronald. "Supply and Demand Factors in Income Determination." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, June 1981.

This report describes the work experience of a nationally-representative sample of 12,000 Americans who were age 14-21 when first interviewed in 1979 and who have been surveyed annually since then. Willke - Chapter One examines welfare, education, and labor market outcomes for CETA participants and non-participants. Lynch - Chapter Two aims to identify the influences on the length of time young people are unemployed. Olsen - Chapter Three examines a method for determining the existence and impact of selection bias, which is known to affect outcomes of labor policy discussions depending on how the bias is corrected. Hills - Chapter Four examines the long-run impact of teen-age unemployment on later labor market success. Morgan - Chapter Five examines variation within families in investment of resources in their children's educational and occupational attainment process. D'Amico - Chapter Six adds evidence to other studies showing how pervasive employment is among high school youth. Parsons - Chapter Seven provides information about the on-the-job training provided to young men by private employers. Nestel - Chapter Eight compares the post-school work experience of youth who served in the All-Volunteer Force and those who did not.

The examination of the relationship between health and labor market success for middle-aged men indicates that poor health negatively affects annual earnings through both total hours worked and hourly rates of pay. The effect upon total hours worked is primarily a consequence of difference between healthy and unhealthy men in number of weeks worked annually, although differences in number of weekly hours also explain some of the difference. Time spent out of the labor force is somewhat more important than unemployment in explaining differences in the number of weeks worked annually although the difference between the unemployment experience of disabled and nondisabled men is not inconsequential.

his study examines two issues concerning a dual economy theory of labor markets. First, the economic sectors are analyzed for the degree to which differences in rates of pay are accounted for by sector differences in: human capital composition, unionization, occupational skill requirements and other factors producing an ability and willingness to pay high wages. The primary factors that produce a pay premium in the monopoly sector are its willingness to pay high wages and its higher levels of unionization. Second, the results of a decomposition by race show that contrary to prior research, blacks are found to be relatively more disadvantaged in the competitive sector.

The author examines the degree of compatibility between the two goals of racial equity and equality. This is done by a regression standardization procedure which projects future levels of black-white earnings ratio. The most interesting projections deal with the assumptions of racial equity in labor market and educational institutions. The results show convergence of the black-white ratio to be a very slow process--another fifty years for it to reach 95. To the extent that racial equality is a goal of public policy, the findings show that this cannot be achieved without reverse discrimination.

Individual wage profile slopes have been estimated for the first time using 5-10 (not necessarily consecutive) years of wage observations for 1,577 young men from the NLS of Young Men. The distribution of wage slopes centers around a mean annual percentage increase in real wages of 4 percent. The apparent unimodality of the distribution of the slopes as well as the preponderance of positive slopes even for high school dropouts may constitute additional evidence against the dual labor markets theory. The determinants of the slopes were learned by regressing the slopes on human capital variables and on other control variables. Wage slopes increase with education, years of marriage, and years of additional experience. Wage slopes decrease with age in year one, the wage in the first year, the years of experience in the first year and the number of observations used in calculating the slope. Also, whites had higher slopes than blacks.

This first stage of investigation of racial differences in the amount of labor supplied by middle-aged men attempts to explain why white men 45 to 59 years old supplied about 200 more hours of work during 1965 than black men in the same age category. The investigation is confined to individuals whose current or last job was a wage or salary worker.

Bibliography Citation

Egge, Karl Albert. "Black-White Differences in Annual Hours of Work Supplied Among Males 45-59 Years of Age: A Progress Report." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1971.

Data from the Young Women's cohort of the NLS are used to study the role of economic forces on the timing and spacing of births. An empirical model of the timing and spacing of childbearing is estimated and evidence is presented that economic factors significantly influence these aspects of fertility. The main results with respect to economic explanatory variables are that an upward shift in a woman's wage profile results in a tendency to postpone childbearing and an opposing tendency for closer spacing. An upward shift in her husband's earnings profile results in earlier timing of births.

Using data from the NLS of Young Women, three questions are addressed: (1) how realistic are the expectations of unemployed young women; (2) what are some of the demographic correlates of unrealistic expectations; and (3) how are expectations related to the extent of unemployment, here measured in terms of duration of current spell and incidence in the second year?

Bibliography Citation

Faulk, Diane. "Job Expectations and Unemployment among Young Women with Work Experience." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1972.

This paper presents a multiple equation model of labor market demand for mother's time, mother's supply of time to the market, family fertility, and child quality. Disaggregate data are used to obtain estimates of the relationship between the wife's market wage rate and her investment in human capital; the effect of market wage, family income, and fertility on years of post-school labor supply; the family's demand for number and quality of children; and the interaction between child quality demanded and the number of children. The econometric technique used is designed to avoid simultaneous equation bias, particularly in estimates of wage and fertility effects on labor supply and price and income parameters of the fertility demand equation.

The report is based on a very limited portion of the NLS data collected in the first two surveys of the older group of men in mid-1966 and mid-1967. Previous reports-The Pre-Retirement Years, Volume I (1968) and Volume II (1969)--contain more comprehensive presentations of the findings of those surveys, based entirely on tabular analysis. Here the focus is narrower and the analysis is more intensive. Professors Fleisher and Porter describe their progress to date in an investigation of the factors influencing the amount of labor supplied by men 45-59. Their aim is to estimate parameters of the labor supply function for individual workers. Such estimates are of interest because of their relationship to important propositions of economic theory, and because labor market policy can be designed properly only if the structure of labor market relationships is well understood. In this report, Fleisher and Porter make full use of the longitudinal nature of the surveys, having developed an analytical framework especially well-suited to take advantage of the unique characteristics of these data. They develop several alternative models, evaluate their results, and show how they are of use in estimating the work disincentive effects of a "negative income tax".

This report, based on data collected during the 1966 and 1967 surveys of Older Men, describes the authors' progress in investigating the factors influencing the amount of labor supplied by men aged 45-59. In this preliminary report, the authors discuss the behavior of blue-collar workers living in metropolitan areas. Although the results so far are disappointing when evaluated against the criterion of estimating a general labor supply relationship, interesting results have emerged for a small subgroup of men. Briefly, the amount of labor supplied by unmarried black men shows a much stronger inverse relationship with wage rates and nonlabor sources of income and is much more sensitive to labor market conditions than that of any other subgroup of men studied. If these findings withstand further scrutiny, they may be useful in helping to decide the appropriate mix of policies to help alleviate poverty, particularly in urban areas. For example, the authors speculate that if undesirable disincentive effects of income-maintenance schemes are to be avoided, it may be "necessary to provide an environment within which increased attachment to the legitimate labor market is stimulated by training of workers and encouraging employers to provide more attractive working conditions."

This report focuses on the question of whether or not unemployment and out-of-the-labor force are equivalent. It is shown, using data from the 1979 survey of the NLSY, that for males the two states are not distinct while for females the states are distinct. These findings raise serious questions about the meaning of official unemployment statistics.

This report summarizes the nature and quality of information collected on the childhood residence patterns of respondents in the NLSY. Evaluation of the data indicate that overall patterns compare quite favorably to other national data. Internal comparisons with residence items collected at earlier survey points also confirm the generally high reliability and quality of the data. Descriptive analyses reveal major variability in residence patterns by race and ethnicity for this cohort of youth growing up in the decades of the 1960s and 1970s. Minority children are less likely to live with both biological parents at birth than are white children and appear more likely to lose a parent over time, particularly during the preschool and elementary school years, ages critical to early educational development. While in general, few children reside without at least one parent, especially at the pre-adolescent ages, when these situations do occur, residence with grandparents is the most frequently encountered arrangement. Childhood residence patterns for racial and ethnic subgroups are discussed. Multivariate analyses of the effect of childhood residence characteristics on early adult outcomes indicate that white youth benefit significantly from the presence of two parents. Suggestions are made for future data collection and research inquiry especially with regard to step-family processes.

Bibliography Citation

Haurin, R. Jean. "Childhood Residence Patterns: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Work Experience of Youth." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1991.

This report summarizes the level and correlates of nonresponse for questionnaire items on sibling characteristics collected in the 1993 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Results show that response rates are highest for items of information which are fairly stable about a sibling such as their gender and relative age. However, other characteristics which can vary over time or which generally occur after siblings depart the parental home have substantially higher levels of nonresponse. Examples include the amount of schooling or age at childbearing for a sibling. Minority respondents and respondents with lower levels of education themselves are less likely to be able to recall this more variable type of information about their siblings. Recall problems are also associated more often with older as opposed to younger siblings. Based on these findings, suggestions for improving upon future survey collection on sibling characteristics is offered.

This report provides a descriptive overview of the 1992 marriage and childbearing data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and evaluates data quality based on comparisons to external data sources. Greater emphasis than in previous reports, is placed on reviewing the NLSY marital history and cohabitation data and on examining previously known problem areas such as the recording of birth history information for men. Results reveal extraordinary comparability of the NLSY data to estimates derived from alternative national data sources. These include cross-sectional estimates by marital status and cohabitation status, overall levels of completed and expected fertility, and the timing of marriage and fertility. Typical patterns by gender and race/ethnicity are confirmed for selected marital and fertility comparisons.

Bibliography Citation

Haurin, R. Jean. "Marriage and Childbearing of Adults: An Evaluation of the 1992 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth." Report, NICHD. Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, November 1994.

Using data from the NLS of Older Men (1966-1981), this paper examines the extent to which survival prospects for men in the years immediately preceding the normal retirement age have been affected by the many changes in medical and health care and in Social Security retirement and disability provisions during the period. Hypotheses relating both to generalized improvements in survival probabilities and to the narrowing of survival differentials between population subgroups defined by socioeconomic, marital, health and employment status are tested. Results indicate that many of the traditionally evidenced differentials narrow or vanish over the period. Consistent with expectations, the greatest improvement in survival is evidenced for the retired, particularly those with health problems. The selective improvement in survival chances for this group is related to ongoing transitions in medical and health care as well as retirement trends in general.

Skill acquisition for jobs in the U.S. is somewhat haphazard and highly voluntary. During l980, about 25 percent of high school seniors were enrolled in vocational educational curriculum. An unknown number received training in unregistered programs and a host of other special training programs financed by employers. The military were also involved in training. In addition, about 7 percent of youth were enrolled in federal government sponsored employment and training programs. Apprenticeship is a relatively small component of the total training received by American youth, accounting for only 5 percent. It is only utilized for highly skilled positions. This study demonstrates the interdependence among a variety of training methods. The estimates reflect the benefits to multiple methods of training.

Using data from the NLS of Young Men, this study found striking differences in attitudes toward certification among union and nonunion sectors in the U.S. workforce. In addition, strongly persistent attitudes are observed across industries and by race within the nonunion sector. Four job characteristics (autonomy, security, pay adequacy, and the degree of danger associated with the work) were significantly related to positive attitudes toward certification. Forces other than job characteristics or economic environment must lie behind the conversion to pro-certification attitudes. Likely candidates are the relative power of individual actors in the industrial relations system, the legal provisions which help to establish power relationships, and the character of management structure in specific industries.

Effects of High Unemployment in the Late 1970s on the Wages of Young Men and Women
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1985
Cohort(s):
NLSY79
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Earnings; Gender Differences; Minorities, Youth; Racial Differences; Unemployment; Unemployment, Youth

Using data from the NLSY, this study examines whether the unemployment experienced by young men and women from 1979-1980 had an impact on their earnings in 1984. Results indicate that early unemployment did not have a significant negative impact on long-run wage rates for any group other than minority women. Even for female minority youth, the analysis showed that early unemployment was positively linked with long-run earnings for those who did not experience unemployment of long duration. Only when the duration of early unemployment exceeded 24 weeks was early unemployment linked with reductions in long-run earnings. The study concludes that youth unemployment has few significant effects on long-run earnings over and above the loss in work experience which accompanies unemployment.

Bibliography Citation

Hills, Stephen M. "Effects of High Unemployment in the Late 1970s on the Wages of Young Men and Women." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1985.

How Craftsmen Learn Their Skills: A Longitudinal Analysis
Report, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, November 1981
Cohort(s):
Young Men
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Career Patterns; Craftsmen; Employment; Schooling; Transition, School to Work; Vocational Education; Work Experience

Even in crafts occupations, a substantial proportion of young men obtain their skills through informal methods. Their participation in skilled manual training programs is certainly much greater than among those who do not become craftsmen; nevertheless, more than 40 percent in crafts positions did not report such training. An additional 30 percent of the young men received training either through apprenticeship or company training, i.e. tied directly to the jobs they held; relatively few obtained training independent of work experience. [Note: This report later appeared as a chapter in Job Training for Youth. R.E. Taylor, et al., eds. Columbus, OH: National Center for Research in Vocational Education, The Ohio State University, 1982]

The Ohio State University Center for Human Resource Research History and Project Summaries 1965-1984
Report, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, June 1984
Cohort(s):
NLS General
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
NLS Description

This report describes the history and project summaries of the NLS, from its inception through 1984.

Bibliography Citation

Hills, Stephen M. "The Ohio State University Center for Human Resource Research History and Project Summaries 1965-1984." Report, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, June 1984.

The Use of Survey Data in Estimating the Impact of Unemployment Insurance
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1978
Cohort(s):
Older Men, Young Men
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Data Quality/Consistency; Unemployment Insurance

Two main sources of data provide potential for testing the influence of unemployment insurance on individual behavior in labor markets. The first are data obtained from the operation of the local employment security offices which administer unemployment insurance in each of the 50 states. Second is information obtained from large national surveys of individuals who are asked certain questions about the unemployment insurance they may or may not have received over a given period of time.

Bibliography Citation

Hills, Stephen M. "The Use of Survey Data in Estimating the Impact of Unemployment Insurance." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1978.

This study tests the sensitivity of the earlier results of Ehrenberg and Oaxaca. The findings indicate that for male job changers, the amount of previous wages replaced by Unemployment Insurance has little effect on duration of unemployment. Local labor market conditions and personal considerations appear to be more important than U.I.

Bibliography Citation

Hills, Stephen M. "Unemployment Insurance and the Duration of Unemployment: A Note on Ehrenberg and Oaxaca." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1979.

Youth Employment in the United States
Presented: Washington DC, Statement before the Committee on Education and Labor Sub-Committee on Employment Opportunities, Hearings on Youth Employment, U.S. House of Representatives, May 1984
Cohort(s):
NLSY79
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Dropouts; Employment, Youth; High School Completion/Graduates; Transition, School to Work

This statement before the Committee on Education and Labor Sub-Committee on Employment Opportunities provides specifics about youth employment based on the NLSY79 cohort.

Bibliography Citation

Hills, Stephen M. "Youth Employment in the United States." Presented: Washington DC, Statement before the Committee on Education and Labor Sub-Committee on Employment Opportunities, Hearings on Youth Employment, U.S. House of Representatives, May 1984.

Career Thresholds, Volume 7: Ten Years of Labor Market Experience for Young Men
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1980
Cohort(s):
Young Men
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Earnings, Husbands; Earnings, Wives; Family Income; Firm Size; Mobility; Training, Occupational; Transition, School to Work

Nine chapters outline the following information: 1. Historical and demographic changes affecting the work lives of the 3,644 young men who were age 14-24 when first interviewed in 1966 and who remained in the sample ten years later. 2. The declining labor market opportunities of those who graduated from college with variations by degree and field of study. 3. The impact of investment in college quality for the young men, focusing on later earnings and graduate school attendance and whether the quality of the institution makes a difference in the labor market position. 4. The intensity and subsequent effectiveness of occupational training and whether the return to training compares favorably with other investment activities. 5. Labor marke

This report reviews the variety of protective mechanisms or market defenses which insulated the young men cohort, 1966-1978, from the uncertainties of the labor market. Discussed are: (1) the nature and consequences of teenage unemployment and the labor market choices of young males during the school to work transition period; (2) the declining labor market opportunities for college graduates; (3) investment in college quality and occupational training and its impact on earnings; and (4) changes in the relative employment and earnings opportunities of young black males.

The Changing Market: A Longitudinal Study of Fifteen Years of Labor Market Experience of Young Men
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1984
Cohort(s):
Young Men
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Displaced Workers; Labor Market Demographics; Military Service; Mobility, Job; Unemployment

Chapter 1: The Changing Market
Chapter 2: The Displaced Worker
Chapter 3: Adujusting to Recession
Chapter 4: Adjusting to the Structure of Jobs
Chapter 5: The Household Costs of Unemployment
Chapter 6: Career Mobility
Chapter 7: Long Run Effects of Military Service
Chapter 8: Skill Transfer
Chapter 9: How Fluid is the U.S. Labor Market?

Labor Market Choices of Male Youth: A Longitudinal Analysis of the School to Work Transition
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1981
Cohort(s):
Young Men
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Age at First Marriage; College Enrollment; Educational Attainment; Labor Force Participation; Locus of Control (see Rotter Scale); Marriage; Military Service; Minorities, Youth; Racial Differences; Rotter Scale (see Locus of Control); Transition, School to Work; Youth Services

Using data from the NLS of Young Men, this paper focuses on the sequence of labor market decisions made by young men during the first nine years after leaving school. It was found that, for the vast majority of male American youth, namely those who are white, unemployment in the years following school is not temporary in nature. No significant time trend was uncovered in the year-to-year experience that was examined. Instead, unemployment was a function of more permanent characteristics such as the amount of education that had been accumulated at the beginning of the school to work transition. Occupational choice, military service and age at first marriage also affected unemployment levels, but for the policy maker, quick-fix methods of dealing with youth unemployment through transitional services (job search assistance for example) would not likely have a significant impact for the majority of young men. Minority youth present quite a different picture, however. Confronted with a host of labor market disadvantages, a black man's formal education did not have as strong an impact on his long-run patterns of unemployment as it would have for a youth who was white. Furthermore a significant time trend was revealed in the year-to-year unemployment that blacks experienced. Blacks apparently minimized their temporary post-school unemployment by entering the military whereas for whites military service was more disruptive and added its own transition problems to the record of unemployment.

Bibliography Citation

Hills, Stephen M. and Choongsoo Kim. "Labor Market Choices of Male Youth: A Longitudinal Analysis of the School to Work Transition." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1981.

The NLS Young Men's cohort respondents interviewed in 1980 reinforced the findings from the mid-1960s that on-the- job training is by far the most common way of acquiring job skills. The earlier study of all labor force participants age 22-64 found that 37 percent of those with less than three years of college reported OJT as the most helpful method of acquiring job skills. Race was an important factor throughout this study. Rates of use of training differed strongly by race and were unaffected by introducing controls for level of education and type of job held.

Changing Family Composition and the Distribution of Family Income in the U.S
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1983
Cohort(s):
Young Men
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Earnings, Wives; Family Income; Labor Force Participation; Locus of Control (see Rotter Scale); Rotter Scale (see Locus of Control); Unemployment Duration; Unemployment Insurance; Wages; Work History

Unlike findings from previous research based on the full age range of the population, data from the NLS of Young Men revealed growing income inequality between 1976 and 1980 for families of the baby boom generation. Part of the growth in inequality occurred within married families, but the change was not a function of the rising labor force participation of women. For blacks as well as whites, the inclusion of wives' earnings in total family income decreased income inequality. Although we do not know what contributed to rising income inequality among married couples, a strong factor in the growth of income inequality across all household units was the rising proportion of female-headed households.

Bibliography Citation

Hills, Stephen M. and John E. Thompson. "Changing Family Composition and the Distribution of Family Income in the U.S." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1983.

This study analyzes the over time interrelationships among sex role attitudes, women's labor force participation, and fertility. Sex-role attitudes and employment have a positive effect on the work decision. However, prior sex-role orientations have no significant subsequent influence on childbearing. Since there is a correlation between labor force participation and fertility, an indirect relationship between sex-role attitudes and fertility may be inferred. The husband's perception concerning the work decision is a significant factor which influences childbearing.

The article reports on changes in the distribution of women in traditionally male and and traditionally female jobs between 1967 and 1971. The data on movements between typical and atypical occupations indicate that although white women are moving into stereotypically male jobs, black women are not. Black women who move from atypical to typical jobs appear to earn only 80 percent of the rate of white women. Atypical jobs appear to be less satisfying than typical, but more lucrative, for women of all races.

This study develops an enlistment model to investigate the determinants of enlistment for young males. The author attempts to distinguish, among age-eligible male youths, the characteristics of individuals who join the armed services and those who do not. The model includes many factors relevant for enlistment, but particular attention is paid to the effect of previous enlistment intentions on future enlistment behavior. Stability of enlistment intentions of young males and females over time was examined by identifying the important factors leading to changes in enlistment intentions. Important findings are: (1) unlike the relationship between enlistment and education, an inverse relationship between education and intention changes is found for all race and sex groups, indicating that as youths become older, military service is viewed less favorably among the more educated than among the less educated; (2) a negative relationship between the Air Force Qualifying Test and intention changes was also observed among minority males; (3) lower educational desire and socioeconomic status, and higher desire for training all turned out to be significant factors; (4) change in marital status from single to married affects intentions negatively over time; and (5) for all race and sex groups, previous intentions served as significant control variables for intention changes. The results indicate that the effects of educational attainment and AFQT on the decline in enlistment intentions were larger among minority males and females than among white males and enlistment intentions declined more for females than for males of each race group.

Bibliography Citation

Kim, Choongsoo. "A Longitudinal Study of Enlistment in the Armed Forces with Special Reference to the Effect of Intentions on Behavior." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1983.

This paper utilizes data from the 1979-1981 NLSY to examine factors related to the use of VEAP (Veterans' Educational Assistance Program) as an enlistment incentive. Focusing on service personnel who enlisted during calendar years 1977 through 1980, the analysis attempts to differentiate individual characteristics and enlistment motives of those who participated in VEAP and those who did not. Some of the major findings include: (1) VEAP participation is positively associated with the number of aspired years of schooling in excess of the attained years of education for both males and females; (2) VEAP participation is positively related to the AFQT score for males and to educational attainment for females; (3) for both sexes, the participation probabilities for those serving in the Navy or in the Air Force are lower than the probabilities for those serving in the Army, while the participation probabilities are not statistically different for those serving in the Army and those serving in the Marines; and (4) for males, married personnel have significantly lower probabilities of participating in VEAP than single personnel while minority service members have higher probabilities than white service members. In relative terms, the desire for additional education plays a significantly greater role in the VEAP participation decision of females than of males.

Bibliography Citation

Kim, Choongsoo. "Post-Service Educational Benefits & the All-Volunteer Force: Some Evidence from the Youth Cohorts of the National Longitudinal Surveys." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1983.

Chapter I, "Choosing Among Military Enlistment, College, Enrollment, and Other Civilian Pursuits," examines why individuals with similar human capital attributes choose different paths. Potential armed forces personnel are identified in Chapter II, "The Supply of Potential Armed Forces Personnel: A Cross-Section Study of Intentions to Enlist in the Military Service among Male Youth Who Have Never Served," which also analyzes personal characteristics of male youth who intend to enlist in the military service in the near future. Chapter III, "The Supply of Potential Reenlistment: A 1979 Cross-Section Study of Intentions to Reenlist among those Serving their First Term of Duty," identifies the first-term service members who have positive intentions to reenlist at the end of their term of duty. Included among findings are that: (1) military service is favored over college and other civilian pursuits as local labor market conditions deteriorate; (2) positive intentions to serve are inversely related to educational attainment and socioeconomic status and positively correlated with the perception of approval of enlisting in the military by the person who has the greatest influence upon the respondent's decisions; (3) the principal reason among black and Hispanic youth for intending to enlist is to take advantage of the post-service educational benefits, while obtaining occupational or on-the-job training other than regular schooling appears to be the primary motivation among whites; and (4) job satisfaction of military personnel serves as a strong indicator of positive reenlistment intentions.

Chapter I, "Characteristics of Current Participants in the Armed Forces," compares persons who have chosen the full-time job of serving in the active armed forces with those who have chosen full-time employment in the civilian sector. Individual characteristics and motives for enlisting are compared between 1979 and 1978 enlistees in Chapter II, "Enlistment in the Armed Forces," and Chapter III, "Potential Supply of Armed Forces Personnel: Enlistment Intentions and Main Reasons for Nonenlistment" identifies future armed forces personnel. Chapter IV, "An Analysis of Reenlistment, Separation after Completing Initial Term of Duty, and Attrition from Military Service among Youths who Enlisted between 1975 and 1977," tests the hypothesis that youth view service in the military as a means of obtaining occupational training or postservice educational benefits. Post-service labor market performances of former service personnel are evaluated in the fifth chapter, "Labor Market Experience of Veterans and Attriters." Findings include: (1) among white males, Armed Forces Qualifying Test (AFQT) scores were about the same for service personnel and their civilian counterparts; female and minority male service members scored substantially higher, however, than their respective civilian counterparts; (2) while only one out of six 1978 enlistees were high school dropouts, more than four out of ten 1979 enlistees were dropouts; (3) youth who talked to recruiters or took the ASVAB represented a cross-section of the youth population, but the socioeconomic status of youth with positive intentions to serve was lower than that of the total youth population; (4) married youth were more likely to remain in the service while those with a child were more likely to leave the service than those who did not; and (5) the unemployment rates for both sexes were highest for attriters, intermediate for veterans, and lowest for civilians who had never served.

This study investigates the determinants of individual wage growth, focusing on the dynamic nature of wage growth. The data come from the Young Men's cohort of the NLS (1969-1978). The analysis reveals that for whites the major determinants of wage growth are, in descending order of importance, the level of initial wage, educational attainment, union participation, and the receipt of the company, military, and/or school training. Among blacks, the important factors are the level of initial wage, union participation, educational attainment, and change in labor force size. The study also compares the determinants of wage growth between white and black males. Decomposition analysis shows that the prediction of higher wage growth for whites than for blacks is primarily attributable to a significantly higher initial wage for whites than for blacks. It also suggests that, had they been treated the same as whites, their wage growth would have been about five percent higher than it actually was.

This report presents preliminary cross-tabular analyses of the first round of the NLSY79. The characteristics of youth who were serving in the All-Volunteer Force (AVF), the quality of their military employment experiences, and their intentions to reenlist are discussed. The post-service status of former enlistees is also explored. Youth who had never served provide a reference group for these analyses. The final chapter profiles the never-served youth with strong incentives to enlist. Separate analyses for males and females and for the different racial groups are provided and differences noted when significant. Despite the fact the Armed Forces are a "volunteer" force, presumably competing in the labor market and paying competitive wages and salaries, it is clear that the employment opportunities offered by the services are dramatically affected by public policy decisions. As a generalization, minorities and females have a better relative chance in the military than outside as judged by preferences for enlistment and the patterns of retention of these within the services. If market forces were allowed to prevail, there is no doubt that the percentage of blacks in the military would increase. The "black" share is reduced by "rationing" so that relatively more qualified blacks are hired. Similarly, opportunities within the military are arbitrarily restricted so that women have to meet higher standards to enter than do men.

This report examines the factors determining labor force participation during the survey week in mid-1967 and the number of weeks in the labor force during the preceding 12-month period for married women. Both measures of labor supply are found to be positively related to a woman's wage rate, health condition, her own attitude toward the employment of mothers, and her husband's attitudes toward her working. Total family income less respondent's earnings and "home wage" are found to be negatively associated with both types of labor supply measures where the home wage reflects the number and age structure of children living at home. It is also found that irrespective of color women under the poverty level are much less sensitive to market wage variation in their labor force responses compared with the non-poor, which in part helps explain the fact that the black women's participation rate has been increasing at a slower rate than that of the white women in recent decades if considered in conjunction with the negative income effect.

Bibliography Citation

Kim, Sookon. "Determinants of Labor Force Participation of Married Women 30 to 44 Years of Age." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1972.

The Labor Market Consequences of Dropping out of High School
Working Paper, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1978
Cohort(s):
Young Men, Young Women
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Dropouts; High School Completion/Graduates; High School Dropouts; Job Tenure; Labor Force Participation; Socioeconomic Status (SES); Wages

This study has used a multivariate analysis to ascertain the extent to which graduation from high school confers labor market benefits on youth in terms of their earnings, occupational status, and unemployment experience.

Bibliography Citation

King, Randall H. "The Labor Market Consequences of Dropping out of High School." Working Paper, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1978.

This study is part of a larger research effort to identify the determinants of differentials in "labor market success" among young men. The two measures of "success" used here are houring earnings and social status of occupation. The issues to which the conceptual framework and empirical work are addressed include: (1) a more thorough understanding of the importance of schooling relative to ability as determinants of earnings, (2) measurement of the effects of unequal school facilities on post-schooling employment experiences, (3) identification and examination of the sources of existing intercolor (black/white) differences in the measures of labor market success.

The Antecedents and Consequences of Interruptions in Formal Schooling: A Review of the Literature
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1976.
Also: http://www.nlsinfo.org/usersvc/NLS_Women/Cohen-Barker-1976.pdf
Cohort(s):
Young Men, Young Women
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
College Education; Dropouts; Education, Secondary; Educational Attainment; High School Dropouts; Military Service; Schooling; Veterans; Vocational Education

This review provides a summary of the existing findings relevant to all types of schooling interruptions. Research reviewed includes interruptions in primary and secondary schooling, studies of the process of leaving and returning to college, institutional criteria for readmission of temporary dropouts, interruptions for military service, and women returnees.

Bibliography Citation

Kohen, Andrew I. and Susan C. Barker. "The Antecedents and Consequences of Interruptions in Formal Schooling: A Review of the Literature." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1976.

Women and the Economy: A Bibliography and a Review of the Literature on Sex Differentiation in the Labor Market
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1977
Cohort(s):
Mature Women, Young Women
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Discrimination, Sex; Employment; School Quality

This literature review expands on part of the article by Hilda Kahne and Andrew Kohen in Journal of Economic Literature 13 (December l975):1249-92. A bibliographic review of the sex differentiation in the labor market is also presented.

Bibliography Citation

Kohen, Andrew I., Susan C. Breinich and Patricia M. Shields. "Women and the Economy: A Bibliography and a Review of the Literature on Sex Differentiation in the Labor Market." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1977.

Success and Failure in College: A New Approach to Persistence in Undergraduate Programs
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1976
Cohort(s):
Young Men
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
College Dropouts; College Education; College Enrollment; Educational Costs; Employment, In-School; High School Curriculum; I.Q.

This study examines the factors affecting the probabilities of completing college. It appears that factors of persistence in college vary with the year in school. Parental socioeconomic status, race and age are found to have no net relationship with dropping out. Pursuing a college prep program in high school is significant only in the freshmen year, and I.Q. is not significant after the sophomore year. However, receiving a scholarship has a significant positive relationship to the probability of completing college. Working evidently inhibits persistence in college, but not all employed students drop out, and there is no significant relationship between hours worked and dropping out. Finally, young men who initially enter a two-year college are much more likely to drop out at every stage for indeterminable reasons--even after transferring to a four-year institution.

This paper is concerned with the determinants of differentials in early-career earnings among young workers. This study uses regression analysis of a 3-equation model to demonstrate the existence of significant labor market discrimination according to both race and sex. Findings strongly indicate that sex discrimination is more virulent than racial discrimination.

Also: Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, September 1996.

In this work, we use a large national data set to explore how longer term socio-economic family and maternal as well as psychological antecedents predict both contemporary as well as longer term smoking behavior for a large sample of relatively high risk American youth. There are essentially two linked components to this research. First, we consider the relevance of longer term socio-economic and demographic prior characteristics as predictors of longer and shorter term smoking behavior. Then, controlling for this full range of priors, we explore issues which are of some interest, particularly to developmental and child psychologists; are there causal connections between childhood hyperactivity and adolescent smoking or is the often found connection spurious, in that it really reflects a likelihood that both hyperactivity and smoking behavior are intimately linked with other dimensions of child and adolescent behaviors? Additionally, to what extent does youthful smoking have an intergenerational connection independent of all the other potentially spurious factors which we are able to measure? The availability of long term maternal, family and behavioral trajectories for the NLSY youth and their families permit us to partially untangle competing hypotheses.

Bibliography Citation

Kowaleski-Jones, Lori and Frank L. Mott. "Family and Youth Behavioral and Social-Psychological Antecedents of Adolescent Smoking Among High Risk Youth." Presented: Washington, DC, Annual Meetings of the Population Association of America, March 1997.

It is widely recognized that children who grow up without one of their biological parents in the home do worse, on average, than other children. However, having a single parent is highly correlated with lots of other socioeconomic disadvantages. Therefore, we must be cautious about ascribing the negative outcome to the parent's absence. Using a variety of controls and instruments, we find little evidence that absence of a parent affects income or wealth. Father's presence has a notable impact on cognitive ability, education and marital status for men. For women. mother's presence is important for cognitive ability and education.

This paper examines women's mobility patterns and associated changes in wages and occupational status over a ten- year period. Mobility has different effects on the wages and occupational status of different groups of women. Intrafirm occupational changes lead to higher status jobs and average or above average wage gains for most groups. Intrafirm moves are also the best route to achieving higher wages for older women in sales and service jobs. Avoiding excessive simultaneous employer and occupational job changing is also important for improving wages for most groups. Older black women are an exception, however. Because they were initially concentrated in low-wage jobs, the most mobile were apparently able to improve their positions substantially. Thus, one pattern of mobility is not consistently superior to another as a route to higher wages and status, and different age, race and occupational groups need to follow different strategies to achieve success.

Our analyses demonstrate a small but significant effect of nontraditional attitudes on white wives' extent of employment experience and a substantially larger effect of market participation on later attitudes.

Utilizing a sample from the NLSY of individuals who left schooling between 1975 and 1978 and subsequently decided to enter the armed forces or enter directly into the labor force, the authors compare labor market outcomes for these two groups as of the 1983 interview. It is shown that those choosing to serve in the military were, on average, doing less well than their counterparts who did not serve. Differences in occupation and firm-specific tenure accounted for much of the difference. The study indicates a key factor offsetting the apparent negative effect of military service is attainment of post-military employment that uses occupational skills acquired while in the service.

This report updates the authors' 1984 report using a sample of individuals leaving school and facing the enlistment decision between 1975 and 1979. Labor market outcomes are evaluated as of the 1984 interview. The report focuses on the transferability of military-provided occupational training, comparing its transferability to that of training provided by non-military institutions. The authors isolate factors influencing skill transferability and suggest the incidence of skill transfer of military training to be similar to that of other training providers for the individuals in this sample.

Does Wanting to Become Pregnant with a First Child Affect Subsequent Maternal Behaviors and Infant Birth Weight?
Working Paper, The Ohio State University, Center for Human Resource Research, Columbus, OH, revised, July 1987
Cohort(s):
Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Adolescent Fertility; Birthweight; Deviance; Pre/post Natal Behavior; Wantedness

Using data from the NLSY, we examined the relationship between whether or not women wanted to become pregnant with their first child, and their subsequent maternal behaviors and infant's birth weight. Fifty-five percent of the sample wanted to become pregnant when they did. Being a black or younger mother was associated with below average levels of pregnancy wantedness, while living in an urban area was positively associated with wantedness. In addition, it was found that while wantedness was related to most of the maternal behaviors in a bivariate context, age at childbearing and race tended to be responsible for these relationships. In a multivariate context, women who wanted their pregnancy were more likely to initiate prenatal care early in their pregnancy and more likely to gain 50 or more pounds during pregnancy. However, wantedness was not a significant predictor of: alcohol or smoking behavior, low weight gain by the mother during pregnancy, her infant's birth weight, whether she ever breastfed, or whether she took her infant for wellcare soon after birth.

Bibliography Citation

Marsiglio, William and Frank L. Mott. "Does Wanting to Become Pregnant with a First Child Affect Subsequent Maternal Behaviors and Infant Birth Weight?" Working Paper, The Ohio State University, Center for Human Resource Research, Columbus, OH, revised, July 1987.

Sex Education for American Youth: Its Availability, Timing, and Relationship to Teenage First Intercourse and Premarital Pregnancies
Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, February 1986
Cohort(s):
NLSY79
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
High School Curriculum; Pregnancy, Adolescent; Sex Education; Sexual Experiences/Virginity

The objective of this paper is to bring new evidence to bear on a few of the more salient sex education issues by presenting both descriptive and multivariate analyses based on a national representative sample of American youth. The data we use focuses on youth who have taken a separate course relating to sex education and five topics their course may have covered.

Bibliography Citation

Marsiglio, William and Frank L. Mott. "Sex Education for American Youth: Its Availability, Timing, and Relationship to Teenage First Intercourse and Premarital Pregnancies." Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, February 1986.

A study was conducted to determine labor market factors influencing one's psychological well being and economic security after retirement. Research was found that supported the hypotheses that a worker's employment, earnings, and industry in the labor force greatly affect a retiree's financial position; the reason for labor force withdrawal influences economic position and outlook toward life; a positive relationship exists between income and life satisfaction; and health problems and job satisfaction influence life satisfaction after retirement. Data were drawn from the older men's cohort of the National Longitudinal Surveys of Work Experience. A logarithmic function of the income received from pension and Social Security was used to measure income. Life satisfaction was measured by response to a question regarding how happy the respondent was with his life. It was found that workers with successful labor market experiences were likely to have a better financial situation in retirement that was transmitted into greater life satisfaction. Whites appeared psychologically affected by job loss, while blacks' ties to the labor market were purely financial. Life satisfaction was not related to the comparison of retirement to preretirement income but was related to the absolute level of income after retirement.

Four NLS cohorts (Young Men ages 19-29, Older Men ages 50-64, Young Women ages 18-28, and Mature Women ages 35-49 in 1971) are used to analyze the work-related characteristics of shift workers. Evening shift workers are more likely than day workers to have union representation and overtime pay; however, low wages and fewer hours of work outweigh the advantages. Split shift workers also have fewer hours and lower wages. As for the night shift, job tenure is comparable to that for the day workers. Evening, split and night shift workers are concentrated in the North, as might be expected within manufacturing. Service, transportation, and sales are also represented by evening and night shift workers. Sex-related differences in shift and industry have also been found, such as boys, women and girls working day shifts as compared to men working night shifts.

Determining Children's Home Environments: The Impact of Maternal Characteristics and Current Occupational and Family Conditions
Working Paper, Columbus: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus OH, 1991
Cohort(s):
Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); General Assessment; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Maternal Employment; Self-Esteem

Bibliography Citation

Menaghan, Elizabeth G. and Toby L. Parcel. "Determining Children's Home Environments: The Impact of Maternal Characteristics and Current Occupational and Family Conditions." Working Paper, Columbus: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus OH, 1991.

This article examines the effect of marital instability on the economic status and the labor market activity of young women. Young women with children have a significantly higher risk of marital disruption and, as a result, the probability that total family income will fall below poverty is greatly increased. In addition, a positive relationship exists between the hours spent in employment and the level of the expected market wage. Likewise, the higher the educational attainment, the greater the ability for the woman to increase labor force participation.

Sibling Influences on the Career Plans of Male and Female Youth
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1983
Cohort(s):
NLSY79
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Family Structure; Occupational Aspirations; Pairs (also see Siblings); Self-Reporting; Siblings; Transition, School to Work

Using as a starting point Olneck's 1977 finding that the adult earnings of brothers are more similar than their common origin status would lead us to expect, this report analyzes the effects of siblings on career aspirations. Data from 5715 respondents who form 2419 sibling groups of two, three or four are used to see how their self- reported career aspirations influenced each other from 1979 to 1982. The principal finding is that brothers, and brothers only, reinforce one another's occupational aspirations during the critical years of occupational identity formation when youth are beginning to make the transition to full-time employment. The apparent absence of a similar socialization mechanism between sisters may be one further hidden barrier to the career development of females.

Bibliography Citation

Morgan, William R. "Sibling Influences on the Career Plans of Male and Female Youth." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1983.

A View from the Cradle: Household and Parental Characteristics and Behaviors from the Perspective of Young Children
Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, 1986
Cohort(s):
NLSY79
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Behavior; Child Care; Children; Family Structure; Fathers, Absence; Hispanics; Household Composition; Maternal Employment; Poverty

This report uses data from the 1984 (sixth wave) survey of the NLSY to describe the household structure and parental characteristics of about 4,400 children born to a national cross-section of American mothers 19 to 27 years of age. About 80 percent of these children were under the age of six and most of the rest were between ages six and nine. These children are representative of the first thirty percent of all children born to a typical contemporary cohort of American women entering the childbearing years. The children in this survey include about the first twenty-five percent of children born to white women, the first forty percent to Hispanic women, and the first fifty percent to black women. The home environment of the older children, those of school age, is typical of the home environment of younger elementary school age children who were born to adolescent mothers. The home environment of those below school age may be considered as representative of the homes of a normal cross-section of children, mostly born to women between the ages of 18 and 25. This study profiles the home situation of a national cross-section of children and, as the study details, suggests results considerably different from those which are typically presented using cross-sectional data for adult respondents. It focuses on the 95 percent of all children who are living with their mother.

Bibliography Citation

Mott, Frank L. "A View from the Cradle: Household and Parental Characteristics and Behaviors from the Perspective of Young Children." Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, 1986.

This monograph presents the following information in eight chapters: An introduction and overview of the issues on marriage, divorce, and parental presence including a child's view of family. The research sample: who are the study children? Paternal presence and absence in the early years of life including patterning and availability of father substitutes. Differences between father-present and father-absent families. Paternal absence and childrens' behavior problem. Father's absence and child cognition: the cognitive assessments of father's absence and cognition. Father's absence and the home environment including individual home attributes and behaviors, and a child development summary. The last chapter includes a synthesis of what has been found and what it might mean.

Child Care Use During the First Year of Life: Linkages with Early Child Development
Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, 1989
Cohort(s):
Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Child Care; Children; General Assessment; Health Factors; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Maternal Employment; Memory for Location; Motor and Social Development (MSD); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Tests and Testing

This paper has two interrelated objectives. First, it highlights the advantages and disadvantages of using a large sample national data set such as the NLSY child data for research on the consequences of early child care. Second, the strengths of such a large national data set have been utilized to examine whether or not there are any apparent overt consequences of early-in-life child care for the early childhood cognitive, social and physiological development of children. The three child outcome measures utilized were the Memory for Location (MEMLOC), Motor and Social Development (MSD), and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test assessments (PPVT). As a generalization, it may be concluded that only limited overall associations are found between the various non-maternal child care arrangements and the MEMLOC and MSD child assessment outcomes. That is, non-maternal child care seems to have only limited effect--either positive or negative--on subsequent early child development. However, early child care does seem to be linked with subsequent performance on the PPVT. In particular, infant girls who receive early non-maternal care subsequently score higher on the PPVT than infant girls who received only maternal care. None of these non-maternal care advantages accrue to young boys. While not identical in terms of patterning or statistical strength, somewhat similar gender differences appear for the MEMLOC assessment. While not exactly a mirror image, evidence consistent with the above may also be extracted from some of the MSD equa- tions. There is systematic evidence that boys with a health problem fare better on the MSD assessment if their first year care arrangements are limited to maternal care. Other relative care, nonrelative care, and in and out of home non-maternal care discussed.

Bibliography Citation

Mott, Frank L. "Child Care Use During the First Year of Life: Linkages with Early Child Development." Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, 1989.

Data on Mothers and Children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Labor Market Experience
Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, 1987
Cohort(s):
Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Children; Data Quality/Consistency; Mothers; NLS Description

These tables are intended to provide potential NLSY data users with some general information about the NLSY data set as well as a variety of sample sizes delimiting various subsets of the NLSY mother and child populations as of the 1986 survey round. The statistics in this report are unweighted sample estimates which may help prospective researchers determine whether or not the sample is appropriate for meeting their research needs. The tabulations should not be viewed as being representative of any national population group.

Bibliography Citation

Mott, Frank L. "Data on Mothers and Children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Labor Market Experience." Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, 1987.

Do Fathers Make a Difference? The Determinants and Consequences of Fathers' Absence from the Home of Younger Children
Book Prospectus, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, October 1991
Cohort(s):
NLSY79
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Children; Children, Home Environment; Fathers, Absence; Marital Dissolution; Marital Instability; Mothers

The traditional American family, encompassing two parents and two children represents only a modest proportion of all family units. This phenomenon is a reflection of many social, economic and demographic forces, not the least of which are the extraordinary recent increases in marital dissolution and the tendency of substantial proportions of women to have and raise children not only outside of formal marriage arrangements, but without having the father of the child (or children) present. While there is no doubt that raising children in a socially and psychologically less privileged environment has negative consequences for mother and children, the extent to which this is true for the contemporary generation of fatherless American children is at least partially open to question. Much of the available academic literature which examines the determinants and consequences--for mother and child--of marital "disruption" is based on intellectual and empirical premises more attuned to the family and social structure of prior generations. Thus, the implied consequences of fatherless homes are often based on somewhat dated notions of normative "correctness". To some extent, the tendency for many researchers to remain wedded to traditional concepts and methods is linked with data constraints. Most data sources are quite limiting in terms of defining relationship processes over time, because most research has focused on the association between the legal form of the parental relationship and its effect on the children rather than concentrating on the parent-child relationship. This research uses a unique data set, the NLSY, to explore several issues: First, the family experiences of children from their perspective and second, the independent effect of various father absence family forms on a child's intellectual and emotional development.

Bibliography Citation

Mott, Frank L. "Do Fathers Make a Difference? The Determinants and Consequences of Fathers' Absence from the Home of Younger Children." Book Prospectus, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, October 1991.

Evaluation of Fertility Data and Preliminary Analytical Results from the 1983 (Round 5) Survey of the National Longitudinal Surveys of Work Experience of Youth
Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, 1985
Cohort(s):
NLSY79
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Abortion; Adolescent Fertility; Fertility; First Birth; High School Dropouts; Household Composition; Sexual Activity; Sexual Behavior

In the present report, the evaluations carried out with respect to the 1983 NLSY data were selectively updated and a number of analyses focusing on specific substantive issues were presented. A major objective of these analyses, which focused on (1) early school leaving and fertility, (2) early parity progression, and (3) fertility expectations, was to clarify issues relating to the quality of those data and to convey to other researchers some of the unique aspects of this longitudinal data set. All of these analyses have been revised and are available in revised form from the CHRR. One other major focus of the data evaluation was to examine the quality of the abortion records by comparing the original abortion reports with results from a confidential abortion reporting scheme in the 1984 survey round.

Bibliography Citation

Mott, Frank L. "Evaluation of Fertility Data and Preliminary Analytical Results from the 1983 (Round 5) Survey of the National Longitudinal Surveys of Work Experience of Youth." Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, 1985.

Contents of this report include the following sections: Male data collection: Inferences from the NLSY. History of the NLS. Some caveats and data collection insights. Selecting the NLSY sample. Survey round completion rates: gender variations. Issues relating to item non-completion. Comparing spousal responses: NLSY couples married in 1979. Insights regarding gender differences in marriage and fertility reports. Gender differences in the timing of selected sections in the 1994 NLSY79 survey round, Summary and recommendations.

INTRODUCTION: Since 1986, with the support of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), all the children of the interviewed female respondents in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) have biennially completed a varies of cognitive and socio-emotional assessments. (See the brief bibliography at the end of this document for several publications that describe both the NLSY main and Child data in some detail). To date, several hundred research papers have been completed that examine connections between the children's family environment and how they performed on these tests. As is detailed below, in many instances, children have been repeatedly given the same assessments. In some instances, the children are directly assessed, whereas in other instances, information about the children is collected directly from the mothers. Finally, beginning in 1994, much of the Child data collection changed from a paper and pencil mode to computer assisted personal interviews. Additionally, at various times over the decade, funds available for the Child data collection was more constrained then at other times This evaluation will attempt to clarify the degree to which these issues have impacted on the quality of the Child Assessment data collection. EVALUATION PROCEDURES: In this paper, we examine the patterning of completion rates on selected NLSY Child Assessments over the 1986 to 1996 period. We focus in particular on three assessments, the PIAT, Mathematics and Reading Tests, and the Behavior Problems scale. These three assessments were chosen for specific reasons. First, they are assessments that arc completed by age-eligible children in all the years in which they are eligible. It was therefore possible to explore attrition patterns for the same children for a series of consecutive assessment rounds. With respect to the Behavior Problems scale, all children age four and over (age 4 through 14 in 1994 and 1986) are eligible for thi
s mother-completed assessment. The mother is asked a series of 28 questions about her child s behavior, and records her choices in a paper instrument. The PIAT assessments have been administered biennially to all children age 5 and over (5 through 11 beginning in 1994) in all the survey years they were age-eligible. Thus, for most children, we have multiple survey points that they were eligible to have the assessments administered permitting a careful longitudinal examination of the extent to which completion patterns for the same children arc predictable on the basis of demographic priors and prior completion patterns.

Bibliography Citation

Mott, Frank L. "Patterning of Child Assessment Completion Rates in the NLSY: 1986-1996." Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, November 1998.

These tabulations, based on the 1984 NLSY, provide potential data users with sample sizes and some basic statistics relating to the fertility experience and fertility profiles of the young women in the sample. Comparisons are made with Current Population Survey results.

Bibliography Citation

Mott, Frank L. "Selected Mother and Child Tabulations from the 1984 (Sixth Wave) Survey of the National Longitudinal Survey of Work Experience of Youth." Report, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, July 1986.

This paper focuses specially on the consequences of the father's absence for how a child scores on an overall Behavior Problems Index as well as how he or she scores on a number of subscales of this assessment which purport to measure a children's tendencies to be antisocial, anxious-depressed, headstrong, hyperactive, dependent or to be excessively involved in peer conflict.

Bibliography Citation

Mott, Frank L. "The Impact of Father's Absence from the Home on Subsequent Maternally Reported Behavior Problems of Younger Children." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1991.

Revised version of a paper presented to the Annual Meetings of the American Public Health Association, Dallas TX, November 1983. This paper uses data from the 1979 through 1982 rounds of the NLSY to examine the relevance of early background and more proximate factors as determinants of a range of fertility related outcomes for a nationally representative sample of young American women between the ages of 17 and 20 in 1982. The principal objective was to determine whether or not the patterning of these fertility-related outcomes (which include sexual activity, contraception, early pregnancy or childbirth, abortion, wantedness of first birth or pregnancy) fell into any coherent framework. The results are strongly consistent with the notion that generalizable anti-natalist behavior patterns can be related to seemingly disparate social and psychological origins. More traditional background orientation such as religiousity and stable family background are associated with early anti-natalist tendencies as are less traditional orientations such as striving for post-graduate education or viewing non-home roles for women as desirable. However, the mechanisms whereby lower fertility is achieved varies between young women who have these different orientations.

Bibliography Citation

Mott, Frank L. The Patterning of Female Teenage Sexual Behavior and its Relationship to Early Fertility. Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, May 1984.

Welfare Incidence and Welfare Dependency Among American Women: A Longitudinal Examination
Report, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, February 1983
Cohort(s):
Young Women
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Employment; Family Influences; Welfare

This research uses data from the NLS of Young Women, 1968-1980, to measure the incidence and intensity of welfare attachment. In addition to examining the propensity of young women and their families to repeatedly receive welfare, both within and across generations, the research examines variations in short and longer term welfare receipt by race, family status and socioeconomic background. The results indicate that while relatively large proportions of women require welfare assistance at some time, a relatively small proportion of women account for a large part of the welfare case load. Family and employment considerations both are important predictors of longer term welfare attachment for both black and white women. Consistent with evidence from other research, the results suggest that the probability of subsequently leaving the welfare rolls declines sharply as duration of time on the rolls increases. Also, there is only limited support for the notion that a propensity to be on welfare is transmitted across generations. Finally, the results indicate that the greater propensity for black women to receive welfare reflects for the most part differences in family and socioeconomic characteristics between the races. There is no support for the thesis that black families are more likely to repeatedly receive welfare after controlling for socioeconomic and demographic differences.

Bibliography Citation

Mott, Frank L. "Welfare Incidence and Welfare Dependency Among American Women: A Longitudinal Examination." Report, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, February 1983.

When Is a Father Really Gone: Patterning of Father-Child Contact in Father-Absent Homes of Young Children Born to Adolescent and Young Adult Mothers
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1989
Cohort(s):
Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Fathers and Children; Fathers, Absence; Fathers, Biological; Fathers, Influence; Household Composition

This research utilizes data from the 1979 through 1986 rounds of the National Longitudinal Survey of Work Experience of Youth to (1) examine the dynamics of father's presence/absence during a child's first few years of life and (2) consider the extent to which overt father present/absence statistics mask a continuing contact with the child's father or other potential father figure.

Bibliography Citation

Mott, Frank L. "When Is a Father Really Gone: Patterning of Father-Child Contact in Father-Absent Homes of Young Children Born to Adolescent and Young Adult Mothers." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1989.

This report evaluates the quality of the fertility-related data in the 1982 round of the NLSY and summarizes highlights of findings from these fertility data. The evaluation indicates that the overall quality of the female live birth information is equivalent to that of the Current Population Survey, that the abortion data is significantly under-reported, and that the other fertility-related information appears equivalent in quality to that of other available data. The quality of the male birth records are inferior to those of the female respondents and should be used with greater care by fertility researchers using this data set. The report specifies the potential magnitude of reporting errors, how these potential error levels are related to characteristics of the respondents, and the procedures used to clean up the fertility records. The analytical sections of the report examine differentials in period and cohort birth rates, sexual activity and contraception, birth wantedness, and pregnancy outcomes for selected respondent characteristics within cross-tabular and multivariate frameworks. Characteristics considered include race and ethnicity, religion, education, and various aspects of family stability, social class, and geographic residence. The multivariate results suggest the utility of a variety of background factors and more proximate respondent attitudes and behaviors for investigating a variety of adolescent and young adult fertility-related attitudes and behavior.

Bibliography Citation

Mott, Frank L., Paula C. Baker, R. Jean Haurin and William Marsiglio. "Fertility Related Data in the 1982 National Longitudinal Survey of Work Experience of Youth: An Evaluation of Data Quality and Some Preliminary Analytical Results." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1983.

Determinants of First Sex by Age 14 in a High Risk Adolescent Population
Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research and Department of Sociology, The Ohio State University, April 1995
Cohort(s):
Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Age at First Intercourse; Age at Menarche; Family Characteristics; Gender Differences; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Maternal Employment; Mothers, Behavior; Psychological Effects; Racial Differences; Religious Influences; Sexual Activity; Socioeconomic Factors; Substance Use

This research uses data for children age 13 and over from the 1988, 1990 and 1992 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth child data collection to clarify the importance of a wide range of family and child socio-economic, psychological and physiological priors as predictors of having had sex prior to age fourteen for a high risk national population. The results suggest that while many standard socio-economic and attitudinal priors are not significant predictors, several maternal and child antecedents are highly significant: extensive maternal employment over the child's life is independently associated with above average early sexual activity. Being black is a significant predictor--but only for boys. From an intergenerational perspective, having had a mother who was sexually active at an early age is a robust predictor of a child's early sex. Independent of all other attributes and behaviors. Surprisingly, no cross-generational links between maternal age at menarche and either daughters age at puberty or first sex or within-generational connections between daughter's puberty and age at first sex were found.

Bibliography Citation

Mott, Frank L., Michelle M. Fondell, Paul N. Hu and Elizabeth G. Menaghan. "Determinants of First Sex by Age 14 in a High Risk Adolescent Population." Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research and Department of Sociology, The Ohio State University, April 1995.

The Determinants of Delayed Sexual Activity in a High Risk Adolescent Population
Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research and Department of Sociology, The Ohio State University, March 1995
Cohort(s):
Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Age at First Intercourse; Gender Differences; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Mothers, Behavior; Sexual Activity; Socioeconomic Factors

In this paper we use some unique longitudinal data for a national sample of high risk young adolescents to temporally examine how various dimensions of a child's background may be linked with subsequent early sexual activity. In particular, we consider the extent to which family and maternal attributes, and child personal behaviors and attitudes may be predictive of subsequent sexual activity. We additionally explore the extent to which early sexual intercourse by a youth may be associated with similar early behavior by his or her mother a generation earlier. For daughters, we are able to clarify whether this intergenerational transmission appears to be independent of any propensities by the mother or daughter to have reached menarche at an early age. We essentially incorporate a variety of social and psychological perspectives into our research design.

Bibliography Citation

Mott, Frank L., Michelle M. Fondell, Paul N. Hu and Elizabeth G. Menaghan. "The Determinants of Delayed Sexual Activity in a High Risk Adolescent Population." Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research and Department of Sociology, The Ohio State University, March 1995.

This research describes the patterns of initiation into drugs, alcohol, and early sexual activity for a cohort of young men and women reaching maturity in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Preliminary results indicate that while substantial proportions of youth have used marijuana prior to their 16th birthday, much smaller proportions have tried harder substances, with males generally showing higher rates of initiation at all ages than females. Comparisons with alcohol use highlight the sensitivity of initiation patterns to the definition of substance usage employed. Multivariate results suggest a variety of significant independent linkages between family background factors and these early adolescent behaviors. The direction of effects is generally consistent across the alcohol, marijuana, and other drug-use outcomes. Where divergences occur, they tend to emphasize the different influences on early sexual activity as compared to early substance use. Early use of alcohol and m
arijuana are also shown to have significant associations with early sexual activity for all race/gender groups independent of family background factors.

Bibliography Citation

Mott, Frank L. and R. Jean Haurin. "Inter-Relatedness of Age at First Intercourse, Early Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Drug Use Among American Adolescents." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1987.

This research uses data from the 1979 through 1990 rounds of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and its complementary child assessment data to explore the shorter and longer implications of a father's absence from the home.

Using data from the 1976 NLS Young Women's cohort and the 1979 NLSY, this study compares the early childbearing behavior of young women in the late 1960s and 1970s. It contrasts separately for black and white non-college bound women the percentages who had a first birth while still in high school, their family situations, socioeconomic characteristics, access to income support, employment situations and their future employment intentions.

Determinants and Consequences of Occupational Information for Young Women
Working Paper, Columbus, OH, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1976
Cohort(s):
Young Women
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Earnings; Employment; Schooling; Vocational Guidance; Work Attitudes; Work Experience; Work Knowledge; World of Work Test

In this study, an examination of the determinants and consequences of occupational knowledge is carried out, using data collected from the NLS of 5,159 Young Women. The significance of various background factors as potential determinants of a young woman's occupational knowledge score and the effect of this score on subsequent earnings and occupational status are investigated. The report notes that the extent of vocational counseling was irrelevant as a determinant of the knowledge of the world of work score. It was found that the relevance of occupational information, as measured by this score, to predict early adults' labor market success was not as clear for young women as it has been shown to be for men.

Bibliography Citation

Mott, Frank L. and Sylvia F. Moore. "Determinants and Consequences of Occupational Information for Young Women." Working Paper, Columbus, OH, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1976.

This study uses data from the NLSY, a representative sample of about 12,000 American youth who were 14 to 21 years of age in l979, to examine the extent of congruence between the attitudes of young men and women about the appropriate roles for women and their own fertility expectations. The study hypothesizes that women, whites, older youth, and youth expecting to complete higher education should show greater independent associations between their women's role attitudes and their fertility expectations. The results support these hypotheses and the verified hypotheses are consistent with the notions that: (1) youth for whom attitudes toward women's roles and fertility expectations have more direct relevance, particularly in the short run, exhibit greater congruence between their values and expectations; and (2) youth who are less assimilated into the socioeconomic mainstream exhibit less congruence between their values and expectations, primarily because the variability in women's role attitudes exceeds the variability in fertility expectations and because youth who are less assimilated express more traditional values.

This paper utilizes the 1979 and 1983 rounds of the NLSY to examine the level and stability of the fertility preferences of a nationally representative sample of young males and females aged 14 to 22 in 1979. The results demonstrate the importance of micro-level longitudinal data for measuring and interpreting trends in the fertility expectations of young adults. Findings indicate that, while in the aggregate mean fertility expectations decline with maturation for all subsets of young adults, at the individual level, maturation is associated with an upward movement in fertility expectations. In addition, this tendency is most pronounced for better educated white women, a substantial portion of the total pool.

This report, designed for persons interested in learning more about the Children of the NLSY data set as well as those researchers actively working with these data, provides detailed information on the 1988 data collection including: (1) basic demographic characteristics of the sample of children and NLSY mothers; (2) a discussion of the thirteen assessments administered during the 1986 and 1988 surveys to the mother and child samples; (3) distributions of the normed and raw child assessment scores including completion rates for each assessment; and (4) within- and cross-year correlations for selected assessments as of 1988.

This report includes detailed information as of the 1988 survey round on the pre- and post-natal health care status of women with respect to the periods preceding and following the births of all their children. This includes (but is not limited to) information about prenatal care utilization, substance use during pregnancy, amnio/sonogram use, weight gain, the infant's birth weight, gestation length, sick and well care during the first year of life and infant feeding practices. The report includes selected analytically useful crosstabulations as well as charts and figures. Tabulations are presented by race/ethnicity, maternal education and poverty status. In addition, data are provided on the health status of all the children as of the 1988 survey date. The report includes a brief narrative discussion as well as an appendix precisely defining all of the health inputs including data limitations.

This research uses data from the 1988 Merged Child-Mother File of the NLSY to present: (1) summary statistics on Head Start enrollment; (2) multivariate analyses examining the independent predictors of Head Start enrollment; and (3) multivariate analyses examining the extent to which enrollment in a Head Start program may have impacted on a child's behavior and verbal and reading skills over a two year (1986-1988) period, controlling for a full range of background factors including behavior problems and verbal ability at the initiation of participation in the program. The sample of children examined have been born to a nationally representative sample of women age 23 to 30 in 1988.

Trends in the Employment of Young Women: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Surveys
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1982
Cohort(s):
Young Women
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Children; Demography; Educational Attainment; Employment; Family Income; Labor Force Participation; Women; Work History

This paper uses data from the 1968-1978 Young Women's cohort. Recent increases in the work participation of young adult women reflect the greater likelihood of women with children to be employed, particularly women who are better educated. While young mothers are not so likely to be working as women without children, the employment gap between the two groups is rapidly narrowing.

Bibliography Citation

Mott, Frank L. and David Shapiro. "Trends in the Employment of Young Women: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Surveys." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1982.

Work and Family in the School Leaving Years: A Comparison of Female High School Graduates and Dropouts
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1978
Cohort(s):
Young Women
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Childbearing; Dropouts; Earnings; Educational Attainment; High School; High School Dropouts; Marriage; Work Knowledge

In this study, the determinants and consequences of dropping out of high school are addressed. Findings show that child-related considerations affect dropping out as well as the ability of a woman to take formal training programs and to find meaningful employment at a reasonable salary. Independent of child considerations, short and long-term implications are also discussed.

Bibliography Citation

Mott, Frank L. and Lois B. Shaw. "Work and Family in the School Leaving Years: A Comparison of Female High School Graduates and Dropouts." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1978.

Youth when asked why they joined the All-Volunteer Force (AVF) often mention the educational opportunities the services provide and the possibility of acquiring specific occupational skills through military training programs. They not only expect this training will be beneficial while serving but that it will also be transferable and valued by civilian employers upon separation. A statistical analysis of the hourly earnings in survey week 1982 among former female enlistees showed that there was no difference in pay between those who previously served and those with no military experience. Among the men with prior service, however, those who failed to complete their initial tour averaged about 11 percent less in pay, and those who completed their tour about 7 percent less earnings than their never-served reference group. Neither group of former male enlistees was at a disadvantage when the universe was restricted to the 1976 and 1977 entry cohorts. Thus the disadvantage in pay experienced by former male enlistees appears to be mainly a short-run occurrence. There is also evidence that enlistees who report some transferability of military experience to civilian jobs average higher hourly earnings than those who report these experiences are service specific.

The initial results of an attempt to identify and measure the strength of some of the personal, social- psychological, and economic factors associated with high levels of job satisfaction among men aged 45-59 show that an individual's hourly rate of pay, his occupation, his health, and the factors he considers most important about a job strongly influence his level of job satisfaction, even after adjustments are made for the effects of other variables.

While paper and pencil is the traditional mode of in-person data collection, computer assisted personal interviewing is emerging. Evaluation analysts must decide how to collect their data and whether data collected by computer are comparable to data collected using paper and pencil. Using data from two experiments with parallel paper and pencil and computer assisted modes from Rounds 11 and 12 of the NLSY, it was found that computer assisted interviewing suppresses the most common kinds of interviewer error, but otherwise has no significant effect upon the data collected in a large longitudinal interview. Interviewer characteristics and whether the interview is done by telephone are more important factors than the use of a computer.

Future of the NLS: A Report from the NSF Conference on the Future of the NLS and the NLS Technical Review Committee
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1989
Cohort(s):
NLS General
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
NLS Description

This report summarizes the proceedings of a National Science Foundation (NSF) conference on the future of the NLS held in Washington, D.C. on October 21, 1988. Attended by representatives of government agencies, academic institutions, private research organizations and foundations, conference attendees reviewed the early history of the NLS and the current design structure of the various surveys, listened to presentations on the usefulness of the NLS to researchers in the fields of sociology and labor economics, and explored possibilities for future NLS data collection efforts. Key recommendations generated from both this conference and a subsequent meeting held by the NLS Technical Review Committee are presented as is an edited transcript of the October NSF meeting.

Bibliography Citation

Olsen, Randall J. "Future of the NLS: A Report from the NSF Conference on the Future of the NLS and the NLS Technical Review Committee." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1989.

This report consists of a series of over 250 descriptive tables detailing by age, race, and varying other characteristics the labor force participation, occupational distribution, and wage rates of respondents in the Mature Women and Young Women cohorts for the survey years 1967-1984 and 1968-1983 respectively. Section I presents an overview of the two cohorts and describes the organization and contents of the series of weighted and unweighted tables that follow. Each of the subsequent sections examines a key topic (labor supply and unemployment [Section II], occupations [Section III], and wage rates [Section IV]) and depicts results for all respondents within each cohort as well as differences by such factors as age, race, marital status, presence or absence of spouse or children, age at first birth, number of children, educational attainment, and extent of labor force attachment.

Expanding the Scope of the NLS Surveys: Merging Data from Other Sources Based on Geographic Identifiers
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, August 2004
Cohort(s):
NLS General
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Geocoded Data; Research Methodology; Statistical Analysis; Statistics

This segment is designed to give an overview of implementable research techniques for incorporating external data with the NLS data based on geographic identifiers. We will proceed by discussing a number of examples. For each example there is a SAS program and a list file.

Bibliography Citation

Olsen, Randall J. and Patricia Benton Reagan. "Expanding the Scope of the NLS Surveys: Merging Data from Other Sources Based on Geographic Identifiers." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, August 2004.

Data on income and asset holdings in the NLS of Young Men's and Young Women's cohorts from the late 1960s and early 1980s are compared with similar data taken from a longitudinal survey done in Estonia that covers the same time period and the same approximate age cohort of young persons. Cross-country inequality comparisons are dangerous, especially because the Soviet system provides an important part of income in the form of subsidized housing and food. However, both the U.S. and Estonian data show a common pattern of time-invariant income distributions when we follow a cohort through the early years of the life-cycle. Asset inequality, as measured by Gini coefficients, is larger in the U.S.; however, there are serious problems in measuring asset values in Estonia.

Bibliography Citation

Olsen, Randall J., Mikk Titma and Raoul Kallas. "A Comparison of Inequality in the United States and Estonia." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1991.

By using four subsets of the U.S. labor force, the author examines the unemployment experience of men who at the end of the decade were 26-34 and 55-69 and women who were 26-34 and 40- 54. Results showed: (1) that many individuals with exposure to the labor force are subject to some unemployment over a ten-year period; and (2) the unemployment varies significantly among the four groups especially among the 26-34 women age group. The average cumulative duration is highest among the 55-69 aged older men cohort. Finally, women's unemployment experience worsens as the labor force participation is measured in terms of its duration.

Bibliography Citation

Parnes, Herbert S. "Distribution and Correlates of Unemployment Over a Decade: Variations by Sex, Race, and Age." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1982.

The persistent trend toward earlier retirement, together with prospective increases in the proportion of older persons in the population, poses financial problems for the social security system and has generated fears that society will be unable or unwilling to bear the increasing burden of adult dependency that these trends imply. Data from the NLS show that the trend toward earlier retirement continued. Though aware of the impact of inflation, few men expressed an interest in postretirement jobs.

Several research findings and policy prescriptions based on data from 1966-1978 are presented. The declining labor force participation rates of older men are largely attributable to liberalization of public and private pension programs. Poor health forces more men into retirement than do mandatory retirement plans; those forced out by illness are less satisfied with retirement and more likely to have serious financial difficulties. In the long run, programs to improve the health of the general population will have a salutary effect on men in retirement. Men at mid-life who lose their jobs after long service are unlikely ever to find comparable employment. Maintaining a high level of general employment will help these men avoid economic dependency. Lifetime training about job choices will maximize the individual's labor market adaptability. Most middle-aged and older men who stay in the work force are satisfied with their positions, as are most retirees who left for reasons other than health.

Bibliography Citation

Parnes, Herbert S. "Middle-Aged and Older Men in the U.S. Labor Force: Research Findings and Policy Recommendations." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1980.

The general plan and content of the National Longitudinal Surveys directed by Dr. Parnes are described and some implications of the findings are presented in terms of the operation of the labor market, the dual labor market theory, and the effects of education, training, health, labor market information, and initiative. Also included are policy recommendations and a bibliography of selected reports based on National Longitudinal Surveys.

This volume, consisting of 56 tables and descriptive text, introduces the reader to the 1990 re-survey of the NLS Older Men's Cohort, in which interviews were obtained with 2,092 members of the original sample and with 2,206 widows or other next-of-kin of decedents. It is designed to: (1) describe and illustrate the categories of data that were collected; (2) record the sizes of various subsets of the sample (e.g., the number of men who were employed in the year preceding the survey); (3) present some simple relationships that invite more sophisticated analysis; and (4) provide some evidence on the reliability and validity of several of the psychological scales used in the survey. Although the tabulations presented within this volume are based on preliminary data, researchers should find the results useful in deciding whether the data base will meet their needs and, if so, in developing research plans before obtaining the data files. Included is an introduction, which describes the purpose and content of the 1990 survey, and seven additional sections dealing with "Mortality", "Physical Well-Being", "Emotional Well-Being", "Family and Friendship Support Systems", "Economic Well-Being", "Current and Prospective Labor Market Activity", and "Status of the Widows."

From Work to Retirement: The Experience of a National Sample of Men
Special Report to the U.S. Department of Labor, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1983
Cohort(s):
Older Men
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Leisure; Life Satisfaction; Retirees; Retirement; Well-Being

Based upon 1966-1980 data from the NLS of Older Men, this monograph: (1) explores the effect of alternative definitions of retirement on the numbers and characteristics of retirees; (2) examines economic aspects of life after retirement, including the extent and character of post-retirement labor market activity and the level and sources of post-retirement income; and (3) analyzes several social-psychological facets of retirement, including post-retirement leisure activities, the determinants of psychological well-being of retirees, and the impact of retirement on level of life satisfaction. The relation between retirement and life satisfaction is found to vary depending upon the specification of the multivariate model.

Bibliography Citation

Parnes, Herbert S. and Lawrence L. Less. "From Work to Retirement: The Experience of a National Sample of Men." Special Report to the U.S. Department of Labor, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1983.

The National Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Market Behavior permits the examination of how the status and characteristics of the same group of individuals change over time. About 150 statistical tables are presented from the NLS of Older Men, a national sample of men who were between 55 and 69 years of age in l976. The data provided serve a wide range of interests on the part of researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners in the human resource field.

Bibliography Citation

Parnes, Herbert S., Lawrence L. Less and Gilbert Nestel. "Work and Retirement Data: National Longitudinal Surveys of Middle-Aged and Older Men 1966-1976." Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, 1980.

This paper analyzes the characteristics of 98 middle-aged men who withdrew from the labor force between the summer of 1966 and the summer of 1967. Further, it presents the circumstances under which these changes in labor force status occurred and ascertains the extent to which they represent irreversible moves out of the labor force.

Retirement before the conventional age of 65 has become increasingly common in recent years, and its impact on social insurance trust funds and private and public pensions widely debated. A quantitative assessment of the factors associated with an expected early retirement among middle-aged men in the labor force in 1971 and their importance in explaining the actual retirements within this age group between 1966 and 1971 is provided. A profile of the latter men, all of whom were less than 65 years of age in 1971, is also presented with particular attention directed at their work experiences and sources and adequacy of postretirement incomes. The importance of health, expected post-retirement incomes, economic need, and job satisfaction for the retirement decision is highlighted by these data. The decline in family income after retirement is also documented as well as the small number of men who report some work experience or an intention to work after retirement.

Women are increasingly participating in the labor force and working at jobs that historically have been filled by men. Multivariate techniques are used to characterize "career" women and to explain the occupational status of women at various stages of their work lives. Racial differences are also highlighted. The evidence suggests that relatively few married women in their late 30s and 40s in 1972 had work histories that could be described as careers. Formal education, marital and child status, and selected characteristics of the work experience such as receipt of training explain some of the occupational mobility observed within the periods analyzed.

About 1 in 8 middle-aged men at work as wage and salary earners in survey week 1966 left their employer in the subsequent five-year period. The factors affecting their propensity to change jobs, and the importance of the latter construct and job opportunities as predictors of actual mobility are explored with multivariate techniques. The stability of the propensity relationship and the significance of the economic environment are also quantitatively assessed. The paper also contains a discussion of the economic and noneconomic consequences of a change in employer.

Data from the first and second-round personal interviews of the NLS survey of middle-aged men are used to study the factors affecting the decision to retire and its short-run stability. Multivariate techniques are used to isolate the importance of age, race, financial needs, ability to work, and resources in the absence of work as factors affecting an expectation of early retirement (prior to age 65) and changes in retirement expectations between 1966 and 1967. The authors find that economic and noneconomic factors are important in conditioning these expectations. Less conclusive evidence is provided that the same factors are important in explaining changes in these expectations. Some of the reasons for the latter finding are also explored.

From the Middle to the Later Years: Longitudinal Studies of the Preretirement and Postretirement Experiences of Men
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1979
Cohort(s):
Older Men
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Employment; Family Background; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Household Income; Mortality; Retirement

The pre-retirement labor market behavior and the post-retirement experience of men between ages 45 and 69 are examined. This analysis shows the extension of the surveys beyond the originally planned five years. Both labor market behaviors and post-retirement experience are based on longitudinal data collected by periodic personal interviews with the same sample of men between l966 and l976. This is volume 5 in a series. This volume was also published by MIT Press as Work and Retirement.

This monograph contains about 150 tables that summarize the current status and prior life experience of a representative sample of men who at the time of reinterview in 1976 were between 55 and 69 years of age. Only limited analysis of the content of each of these tables is included. Separate distributions are provided for each of three-age categories and for two racial groups. The tables are further categorized into two major types. The first set contains a demographic profile of the men at the time of their initial interviews in 1966 and summarize their backgrounds, prior work experiences, attitudes toward work, health status, and characteristics of their 1966 survey week jobs. The second set is more extensive and includes two sections for each table. The first part of the table summarizes the experiences of the same group of men in 1966, 1971 and 1976 and provides information about their behavior as they age five and ten years. The second part controls for the age of the respondent and asks whether the behavior differs at two to three points in time. At issue is whether the behavior varies for the same age cohort over time. Among the characteristics studied are marital and family attributes, extent of post- school training, mobility measures (geographic, employer, occupational), attitudes toward retirement, survey week status, and characteristics of survey week job.

Shunning Retirement: Work Experience of Men in Their Seventies and Early Eighties
Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1993
Cohort(s):
Older Men
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Age and Ageing; Employment; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Income; Labor Force Participation; Retirement; Wives, Work; Work Attachment; Work Experience

Using data from the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) of Older Men, this paper examines the extent and character of the work experience of men who opt to continue labor force participation well beyond conventional retirement age. Logistic regression results showed that good health, a strong psychological commitment to work, and a corresponding distaste for retirement are among the most important characteristics related to continued employment into old age. The probability of employment was also found to be positively related to educational attainment and being married to a working wife; it was negatively related to age and level of income in the absence of work. Of the men in the sample who were not working, very few gave evidence of a desire to do so. Policy implications of the findings are explored.

Bibliography Citation

Parnes, Herbert S. and David Gerard Sommers. "Shunning Retirement: Work Experience of Men in Their Seventies and Early Eighties." Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1993.

Using data from four NLS cohorts, the author estimates a recursive model in which family background first influences the daughter's schooling and then, with schooling, influences husband's characteristics and her market wage. The influence of family background on female economic well-being is empirically assessed, considering several measures of well-being: female schooling, husband's schooling and income, and finally female wages. The analysis of female schooling suggests that the four background characteristics considered (father's wage rate and schooling, mother's schooling, and number of siblings) strongly influence female schooling attainment with total explanatory power of about 30 percent for middle aged women. As expected, the family wealth measure and the parent's schooling (measuring perhaps the intellectual environment) positively influenced one daughter's schooling, while number of siblings, presumably an indicator of lower support ability, had a modest negative effect. The estimated background coefficients on schooling did not differ in any dramatic way from comparable estimates for male offspring. Husband's income regressions were then estimated with female schooling and background characteristics as explanatory variables. The schooling and background variables were found to have strong and independent effects on the income of the female's husband. Similar results were found when husband's schooling was used as a dependent variable under the argument schooling might be an observable measure of future earning power.

Poverty Dynamics Among Mature Women: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Surveys, 1967-1989
Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research and Department of Economics, The Ohio State University, January 1995
Cohort(s):
Mature Women
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Age and Ageing; Poverty; Retirement; Social Security; Transfers, Financial; Women

Massive transfer programs, especially the social security retirement program and the related supplemental security income system, have sharply reduced the poverty levels of aged Americans. In 1959 the poverty rate among persons 65+ was 57% greater than that of all persons in the U.S. (35.2% versus 22.4%). Thirty years later (1989) the rate was less than the population average (12.4% versus 14.2%). The incidence of poverty is not equal across the aging population, however. Citing a House Select Aging subcommittee report, a subcommittee member reported, "Women are 70 percent more likely to spend their retirement in poverty than men." (Columbus Dispatch, September 25, 1992) It is natural to ask how these women can be helped. At the same time, the huge expenditures required to secure the current reduction in poverty raises a second question of whether it is possible to achieve the same goal more cheaply. To confront either of these policy issues, it is important to know the origins of poverty among retirement age women. Without an understanding of the processes that lead to poverty among the aged, policy planners must rely on increased direct cash transfers to the aged, perhaps through an expanded SSI program, as the only poverty tool. Is aged poverty primarily an extension of a life long condition or is it the result of negative wealth shocks later in life such as a divorce or a husband's disability or death? The first possibility is a basic redistribution question and is unlikely to be resolved outside a broader agreement on the appropriate distribution of income. The second is a social insurance problem and is potentially resolvable with changes in the design of the current social insurance system.

Bibliography Citation

Parsons, Donald O. "Poverty Dynamics Among Mature Women: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Surveys, 1967-1989." Working Paper, Center for Human Resource Research and Department of Economics, The Ohio State University, January 1995.

This report presents a series of detailed descriptive tables summarizing some of the key life-cycle transitions in employment, health, income, marital status, and overall satisfaction experienced by the NLS cohort of older men as they aged. After a brief description of the cohort, it discusses the continued representativeness of the sample in terms of attrition due to death and the non-response rates for reasons other than death which remained remarkably low. The report continues with descriptions of the changing health status of surviving members, detailed life cycle variations in their labor force participation rates, the nature of work adjustments for those who work beyond typical retirement ages, the transformation of total family income, poverty over time for various age and ethnic groups, the changes in marital status from 1966 to 1983, and the shifts that occurred from 1976 to 1981 in the overall attitude of this group of older men toward their changing life-health-employment circumstances. All measures tell a consistent story, namely that retirement from the labor force is for the population as a whole an abrupt process occurring between the ages of 60 and 65 years of age.

This report presents a series of detailed descriptive tables delineating the schooling and labor market experiences of this cohort of young men as they entered adulthood. Chapter 1 provides a brief description of the cohort and overviews the contents of succeeding chapters. Chapter 2 discusses the continued representativeness of the sample. In particular, response rates over the 15 year period are presented for the total sample as well as by ethnic group, age, IQ, and father's schooling. The cumulative non-response rate for blacks was found to be higher over the period than that for whites (46% versus 30% respectively) but does not appear to be significantly related to individual characteristics such as IQ or to family characteristics such as father's schooling. Chapters 3 and 4 detail the schooling experience and labor market experience of youth enrolled either full- or part-time in school. The impact of race and other individual and family factors such as father's educational attainment and respondents' IQ on years of schooling completed is explored. A variety of aspects of the employment experience of enrolled youth are examined namely annual hours worked, hourly wage rates, and rates of unemployment and labor force participation by age, race, and enrollment status. Chapters 5 and 6 discuss the post-schooling labor market experience i.e, employment and labor force participation rates and annual hours worked by age, race, educational attainment and enrollment status. In Chapter 7, the hourly wage rate by age, race, and schooling attainment is tabulated and implications for economic well-being examined. Chapter 8 describes the marital status transitions of this cohort of young men over the 15 year period and delineates differences by age, race and schooling attainment. Finally, Chapter 9 describes the impact of prior schoolingand race on adult economic well-being as measured by total family income and incidence of poverty.

The NLS cohorts of Older Men, Mature Women, Young Women, and Young Men have been interviewed since the 1960's by the Bureau of the Census; the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) conducts interviews with the NLSY that was begun in 1979. Several attrition problems have been identified and solved based on this extensive experience with interviewing the same individuals over a long period. Over five years, NORC achieved a better than 95 percent retention rate with the youth cohort. Because the Young Men's cohort, begun in 1966, had the highest attrition rate (largely due to the Vietnam War), a special effort was made in 1981 to relocate non-respondents in this cohort, and 37 percent of a previously lost subsample were found. A new rule guiding Census interviewers for the older 1960s cohorts is that no respondents are to be dropped unless they are known to be dead. Studies of attrition conducted in the late 1970s show that all the NLS cohorts were still nationally-representative as of that time.

Bibliography Citation

Rhoton, Patricia. "Attrition and The National Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Market Experience: Avoidance, Control and Correction." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1984.

Controlling for race and education, the following variables were examined for their association with atypical assignment: marital status, current labor force status, hours usually worked on current or last job, residence at age 14, mother's education, whether or not mother worked when respondent was 14, "cultural exposure," attitude toward mothers working, plans for age 35, and motivation to work. Some evidence--however limited--of the effects of both formative influences and attitudes was found, thus the proposition that atypicality of assignment is entirely a random process, arising out of chance and discontinuous career patterns, was rejected. The effects of the variables appeared selectively across race and education groups. Atypical assignment was found not to be so severely constrained by either background or attitudinal set that entry to atypical occupations should be seriously restricted by those factors.

Influence of Fertility Strategies on the Labor Force Status of American Wives
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1972
Cohort(s):
Mature Women
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Age at First Birth; Children; Educational Attainment; Family Influences; Fertility; Husbands, Influence; Wages; Wives; Work History

This dissertation examines the influence on a married woman's labor force participation of four indicators of her "fertility strategy": (1) her current age; (2) age at time of her first birth; (3) number of children ever born; and (4) age of her youngest child. The author estimates that each additional child is associated with a five percentage point reduction in female labor force participation. If this relationship has held historically, then declining family size since 1900 has accounted for about half of the observed increase in labor force participation rates since the beginning of the century.

The author examines the role of wealth in explaining the relationship between family background and adult economic status for white and black males. These results show that parental wealth as a financial component of family background exerts an influence on schooling that is independent of other social components of family environment. This influence is stronger for black males than white males. Parental wealth has a direct effect on earnings for white males only. In addition, parental wealth has a direct effect on son's wealth after controlling for its effects on schooling and earnings. Finally, the total effect of parental wealth and wealth of white males is much stronger than its effect on earnings.

Demand for College: The Effect of Local Colleges on Attendance
Report, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, June 1976
Cohort(s):
Young Men, Young Women
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Colleges; Parental Influences; Schooling

This study finds that only limited additional college enrollment is associated with the existence of local public colleges. While this result conflicts with widely held assumptions, it is consistent with previous research and probably due to the limited effect of attending a local college on the total cost (including foregone earnings) of investment in higher education. The proximity of a college induces persons who would have enrolled in out-of-town institutions to attend college locally. Local two-year public colleges increase the likelihood that white women and black men will seek higher education. Furthermore, the college attendance decision is often made at the time the student enters high school, i.e., academic curriculum explains a large portion of the variance in college enrollment demand among individuals. Hence, the decision to go to college is at the very least heavily influenced by parents.

Bibliography Citation

Sandell, Steven H. "Demand for College: The Effect of Local Colleges on Attendance." Report, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, June 1976.

In this paper the economic model used to explain the labor force participation of married women at a point in time has been adapted to study the determinants of lifetime participation. Different influences were observed for the periods before and after the first child was born. While greater education of the husband is associated with lower labor force participation of women in the post-natal period, women whose husbands have greater-than-average educational attainment worked a greater proportion of the years available before the birth of their first offspring. Although the net positive effect of the wife's potential wage on her labor force participation reported here is consistent with previous research, it was found that the size of the wife's own wage effect was slightly smaller than the husband's wage effect on the wife's labor supply. In addition, inclusion of variables which purport to measure the taste of the women for market work reduces the observed positive effect of the wife's potential wage on her post-natal labor supply.

This paper discusses specification and interpretation of human capital models of women's earnings when data on actual work experience are available. It uses the segmented earnings function framework developed by Jacob Mincer and Solomon Polachek and considers the effects of data errors, issues involving data interpretation, consequences of model mis-specification, and the simultaneity problem. The paper also re-examines the male-female wage gap in light of our criticisms.

Bibliography Citation

Sandell, Steven H. and David Shapiro. "The Theory of Human Capital and the Earnings of Women: A Re-examination of the Evidence." Report, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1976.

Using data from the 1971 NLS of Older Men, this study simultaneously examines wage differentials in unionized and non-unionized employment in both the public and private sectors. Within a human capital framework, separate differentials are estimated for both white-collar and blue-collar workers, and for whites and blacks. The data indicate that public sector unions have not been successful in raising the earnings of white-collar workers within government, ceteris paribus, but that they have raised the earnings of blue-collar workers. However, comparison of union wage effects in the public sector with those in the private sector indicates that public sector union wage effects are generally comparable to or smaller than union wage effects in the private sector.

This paper estimates the percentage of women ages 35-54 who were potentially eligible for the displaced homemakers program under the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1978. In addition, the paper describes the work experience, skills, and family circumstances of the potentially eligible population. The majority of eligible women differ from the stereotype of the displaced homemaker; although most have spent 15 or more years outside the labor market, most have also had considerable work experience--some of it recent. Evidence shows that low skills and irregular employment, rather than a lack of recent work experience, are responsible for the employment problems of displaced homemakers. In addition, their problems are increased by limited employment opportunities due to discrimination (race, sex, age). Finally, policy implications for the future are provided.

Bibliography Citation

Shaw, Lois B. "A Profile of Women Potentially Eligible for the Displaced Homemaker Program under the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1978." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1979.

Using data from the Mature Women cohort, this paper examines trends in the work attachment of married women by comparing the proportion of weeks worked in two successive five-year periods from 1966-1976. The data suggest that it is becoming increasingly uncommon for a woman to remain a full-time housewife throughout the childbearing years. While most women return to work once their children are beyond the primary school years, many work somewhat irregularly, perhaps in response to temporary financial pressures or to unusually good job opportunities. Slightly over one-third of married women work continuously during this time with the percentage gradually increasing. Racial differences in labor force attachment are explored and future trends in the work attachment of middle-aged married women are discussed.

Bibliography Citation

Shaw, Lois B. "Changes in the Work Attachment of Married Women, 1966-1976." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1979.

This report uses the NLS Mature Women's cohort to examine wage growth after labor market reentry among women who returned to work between 1967 and 1979. Looking at the first few years after reentry, we find evidence of above- average wage growth among women who changed employers after reentering, but little evidence of a wage rebound effect for other reentrants. This finding provides support for the hypothesis that some reentrants' wages are low because their first reentry jobs are below the level that their skills warrant. The long-run results follow a larger group of reentrants over a ten-year period. Among this group, those who worked at full-time jobs experienced a higher rate of wage growth than nonentrants. Employer changing was not a source of wage growth over this longer period. On average, nonentrants in this sample--even those who had worked full time for the entire ten years--showed little wage growth. The higher wage growth among reentrants may be due in part to their undertaking additional education or training when they enter and partly to their lower initial wages, which allow for greater growth before a plateau is reached.

Does Living in a Single Parent Family Affect High School Completion for Young Women?
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1979
Cohort(s):
Mature Women, Young Women
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Educational Attainment; Parents, Single

This study examines whether living in a single-parent family exerts any effect, beyond the effect that low income may have, on the chances of a daughter's completing high school. Using paired data from the Young and Mature Women cohorts (mothers and daughters living in the same household during the initial screening), analyses suggest that the income effect of living in a single-parent family is of primary importance. However, both income and other factors associated with living in a nonintact family increase the chances of dropping out of school for daughters in low income families headed by a single parent, usually the mother. In high income families, living with one parent has no effect on the chances that a daughter will fail to complete high school. Policy implications as well as directions for further research conclude the paper.

Bibliography Citation

Shaw, Lois B. "Does Living in a Single Parent Family Affect High School Completion for Young Women?" Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1979.

The probability of becoming poor in our society is markedly increased by marital disruption. In the present study, most women had been married for 10 to 20 years and had children at home when their marriages ended. The end of the marriage caused a decline in the average economic welfare of the families involved. About one quarter of white families and 55 percent of black families of these middle-aged women had incomes below the poverty line after their marriages ended.

Effects of Age, Length of Work Interruption and State of the Economy on the Reentry Wages of Women
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1982
Cohort(s):
Mature Women
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Skill Depreciation; Unemployment Rate; Wage Penalty/Career Penalty; Wages; Work History; Work Reentry

This paper looks at the effects of work interruption on the reentry wages of women after controlling for age and the unemployment rate at the time of reentry. Other methodological issues concerning skill depreciation are also raised.

Bibliography Citation

Shaw, Lois B. "Effects of Age, Length of Work Interruption and State of the Economy on the Reentry Wages of Women." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1982.

Effects of Low Income and Living With a Single Parent on High School Completion for Young Women
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1982
Cohort(s):
Mature Women, Young Women
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Educational Attainment; Family Income; High School Dropouts; Mothers and Daughters; Parents, Single; Racial Differences

This paper examines the effects of living in a single parent family on the high school completion of young women after controlling for the effects of family income. Using a sample of mothers and daughters from the NLS of Mature and Young Women, it was found that, for white women, living with a single parent has no effect on high school completion once the generally lower income in single-parent families is taken into account. For black women, both low income and living with a single parent independently contribute to increased rates of dropping out of school. In considering policies to increase the rate of high school completion, the economic aspect of the problem deserves major attention.

Bibliography Citation

Shaw, Lois B. "Effects of Low Income and Living With a Single Parent on High School Completion for Young Women." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1982.

This report presents an overview of the many changes (economic, social, employment, and family-related) affecting the lives of the Mature Women's cohort (1967-77). Discussed are the problems of labor market reentry, causes of irregular employment patterns, the persistence of occupational segregation, the economic consequences of poor health and marital disruption on the lives of these middle-aged women.

Fifteen years of data from the NLS cohort of Mature Women are analyzed. Chapter one describes the extent of the decreasing family responsibilities and increasing labor market involvement for these women over the fifteen-year period. Chapter two explores the employment patterns of white and black women following the birth of their first child. Chapter three examines the degree of responsibility given to women age 45 to 59 for the pay and promotion decisions of others. Chapter four describes the education the women received between 1967 and 1982, and chapter five examines the extent to which they increased their labor market involvement as a result of family disruptions or husband's employment or disability. Chapter six describes the factors that determine women's early withdrawal from the labor market. Chapter seven illustrates the usefulness of hazard rate models in exploring the transition from divorce to remarriage and finds a striking difference in the mean duration to remarriage between whites and non-whites. Chapter eight focuses on the retirement plans and expected pension of white and black middle aged women.

This report summarizes findings on mature women's experience in the United States labor force by researchers using data from the NLS. Topics covered include women's attitudes toward work, economic consequences of the end of long-term marriages, the effects of time spent out of the labor force on women's earnings, and the disadvantaged economic position of older black women.

Bibliography Citation

Shaw, Lois B. and Kezia Sproat. "Mature Women in the Work Force: Research Findings and Policy Recommendations from the National Longitudinal Surveys." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1980.

This report analyzes characteristics and labor market experiences of families that would have been eligible for a family assistance payment in the mid- and late 1960s had an early version of the Nixon Administration's Family Assistance Plan (FAP) been in effect. Data are derived from initial interviews with four probability samples of the civilian population of the United States: men 45-50 years of age; women 30-44; and men and women 14-24. Each group of interviewees contains about 3,000 white and 1,400 black persons. Rural origins, the broken nature of many families, and large numbers of children are important determinants of potential FAP eligibility. Adult men and women in poverty generally hold as favorable attitudes toward work as their nonpoor counterparts. Employment experiences (i.e. occupational assignments, weeks worked in base year, and rates of pay) are very important as are the health status, education, training, and several other characteristics. Implications for national policy are discussed.

The Determinants of Service in the Armed Forces During the Vietnam Era
Report, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, December 1977
Cohort(s):
Young Men
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Military Draft; Military Enlistment; Military Service; Vietnam War

The purpose of this study is to explore the determinants of service in the armed forces during the Vietnam era.

Bibliography Citation

Shields, Patricia M. "The Determinants of Service in the Armed Forces During the Vietnam Era." Report, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, December 1977.

Hypothetical Labor Market Response of Black and White Women to a National Program of Free Day Care Centers
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1977
Cohort(s):
Young Women
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Child Care; Children; Family Background; Work Attitudes

Free day care centers would be utilized more by black than white women (with preschool children) and would dramatically increase labor market activities of blacks, while only slightly affecting the labor supply of white women. This difference is attributable to black women's more favorable orientation toward work outside the home.

Bibliography Citation

Shortlidge, Richard L. Jr. "Hypothetical Labor Market Response of Black and White Women to a National Program of Free Day Care Centers." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1977.

How Women Arrange for the Care of Their Children While They Work: A Study of Child Care Arrangements, Costs, and Preferences in 1971
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1977
Cohort(s):
Mature Women, Young Women
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Child Care; Children; Earnings; Educational Attainment; Part-Time Work; Wives

The kinds of child care arrangements used by employed women are explored, along with child care expenditures and the characteristics of women who prefer some form of child care other than their current arrangement. The policy implications of the findings are summarized.

Bibliography Citation

Shortlidge, Richard L. Jr. and Patricia K. Brito. "How Women Arrange for the Care of Their Children While They Work: A Study of Child Care Arrangements, Costs, and Preferences in 1971." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1977.

Findings from this study which utilizes data from the NLS of Young Women show that: (1) previous work experience and future work plans are negatively related to expected and ideal family size; (2) parental SES is negatively related to expected family size and ideal family size, although parental SES is a more important determinant of ideal family size than expected family size; (3) women who have had at least one child have significantly lower expected and ideal family sizes as compared to women who have not had children; (4) even though having ever been married results in a lower ideal family size, it does not have a significant impact on expected family size; (5) the more proscriptive a woman's attitude toward working women with children, the higher the ideal family size; (6) as measured by educational attainment, a woman with higher social status aspirations has a lower expected family size; and finally, (7) blacks' ideal family size is significantly higher than their white counterparts'.

Bibliography Citation

Shortlidge, Richard L. Jr. and Andrew I. Kohen. "Prospective Fertility Among Young Women in the United States: The Determinants of Fertility Expectations and Ideals." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1975.

Data from the NLS of Young and Mature Women (1974-1981) are used to examine the determinants and consequences of volunteer work. Descriptive results show remarkable aggregate-level stability across time in voluntary participation. The cross-sectional relationship between volunteer work and labor force participation was found to be negative. Over the long run, employed women who also do volunteer work experience lower earnings. Increased volunteer work was found to be related to relatively high levels of education, training, work experience, and occupational prestige. Hence, volunteer work substitutes for paid market work in the short run, but enhances accumulated human capital in the long run.

This study examines whether particular methods of job search exert a significant influence on the duration of job search and the level of job satisfaction of young Americans. It is well established that informal methods of job search are very important in the job search process. The reasons for this importance, however, are not at all clear. Previous studies that have examined the effectiveness of job search methods have been rather limited. They have tended to use rather narrow definitions of effectiveness and have not adequately controlled for the variety of personal and labor market characteristics that might impinge on method effectiveness. This study attempts to overcome many of these problems. The authors conclude that search methods do indeed significantly influence the duration of job search, with the informal methods performing significantly better than the state employment service. However, no evidence was found to support the often-espoused view that informal methods convey a particular type of intensive and qualitative information which makes for greater job satisfaction.

Estimating a Structural Search Model: The Transition from School to Work
Report, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1984
Cohort(s):
NLSY79
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Job Search; Modeling; Statistical Analysis; Transition, School to Work

The purpose of this paper is to present a job search model that is econometrically implemented using all the restrictions that are implied by job search theory and to provide a statistical test of those restrictions.

Bibliography Citation

Wolpin, Kenneth I. "Estimating a Structural Search Model: The Transition from School to Work." Report, Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1984.

On the Use of Expectations Data in Micro Surveys: The Case of Retirement
Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1985
Cohort(s):
Older Men
Publisher:
Center for Human Resource ResearchKeyword(s):
Labor Supply; Retirement

Most large-scale data sets, cross-sectional and longitudinal, contain questions concerned with expectations about future life events, among them future labor force behavior, fertility, schooling, and occupation. The aim of this paper is to ascertain whether data on retirement expectations are consistent with data on actual labor supply in the sense that both are derived from the same optimizing model. The researchers develop a methodology for this purpose and implement it using data from the NLS of Older Men. They find that reported expected retirement ages are actually more accurate than expected retirement ages predicted by the labor supply model, although the correlation between them is significant. This is consistent with the idea that expectations data provide valuable information about labor supply behavior which can be exploited to improve estimates of labor supply models.

Bibliography Citation

Wolpin, Kenneth I. and Fusun Feride Gonul. "On the Use of Expectations Data in Micro Surveys: The Case of Retirement." Report, Columbus OH: Center for Human Resource Research, The Ohio State University, 1985.

Researchers know relatively little about the way people gather wealth. This paper provides a foundation for understanding wealth trends by investigating the data quality of a little used portion of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort or NLSY79. To date, no data quality investigation has been performed on the NLSY79's wealth information. To remedy this defect, the paper first overviews the wealth data collection and analyzes its strengths and weaknesses. Then the data's quality is investigated by checking the importance of common problems, such as nonresponse, and how NLSY79 results compare with other data sets. Lastly, the creation of a longitudinal net asset series is described and basic wealth results are presented.

This article examines attrition in the National Longitudinal Survey of Mature Women. The focus of the article is threefold: it documents how much attrition has occurred, examines who has exited the survey and compares the NLS data to other national data for the same age group.

This article examines attrition in the National Longitudinal Survey of Young Women. The focus of the article is threefold: it documents how much attrition has occurred, examines who has exited the survey and compares the NLS data to other national data for the same age group.